20061212 The Ugly “T” word

The Ugly “T” word

December 14th, 2006

Fellow Patuxent Publishing and Tentacle columnist Chris Cavey has a rather no-holds barred column in The Jeffersonian on the ugly “T” word in this week’s edition of the paper.

(The Jeffersonian, the Westminster Eagle and Eldersburg Eagle are all owned by Patuxent Publishing.)

Hat Tip DJ – Thanks

Unfortunately, I cannot find a link for the article on the Jeffersonian web site.

Party Line (R)

Elections foretell next wave of taxes

12/12/06 By Chris Cavey

The din of Democratic revelry had barely ended before curious events began to happen. Campaign promises were removed from Web sites and, for the first time in many months, the ugly "T" word was alluded to in conversations with the media.

Yes, now that the elections are over, code phrases for taxes such as: "additional revenue sources," "income from other areas" and "new revenue" can once again creep back into daily conversation to prepare you for the onslaught of taxes to come. Here we go again!

Gov.-elect O'Malley certainly didn't wait very long before he talked about the dollar-per-pack tax on your smokes. Perhaps this is an easy way to attack the public pocketbook. Sin taxes are always popular with those who don't happen to indulge that particular sin. (Too bad you can't tax lying.)

Perhaps the O'Malley people will spin this as a public health issue. He certainly would never promote this as a tax that would take more money from poor families who can't afford or don't understand the need to quit smoking. No, maybe this is about the kids. If they're not yet nicotine- addicted, the habit will be less appealing. If they are already smokers, it will be just a little less lunch money -- and another source of revenue for the state.

My personal favorite is the "carbon tax." I had to look it up. Basically it is a tax on carbon emissions, including emissions from vehicles. Remember the BGE rate debate? Well, there will be limited debate here. The carbon tax would add a layer of taxes to your bills, regardless of the previous debate and its outcome.

Boulder, Colo., was the first jurisdiction to break ground in this land of mining new taxes. Direct consumer expenses increased $16 per year, or more, not including the local utility's pass-through of the next tax. (Maybe, this time, Republicans can blame everything on the Public Service Commission, members of which will be appointed shortly by O'Malley.)

Let's say you own a large sport-utility vehicle, a nice pickup truck or perhaps a recreational vehicle. You are generating more emissions than the people driving hybrids, and the O'Malley Carbon Tax will be coming after you (not the stinky Mass Transit Administration buses).

The stereotypical owners of SUVs, pickup trucks or RVs live in suburban or rural areas. They are small business owners, contractors or perhaps farmers. RV owners typically have a little extra discretionary income.

I would bet the majority of this demographic group might even be registered Republican, but that, too, is stereotyping.

We do know this: The governor-elect is entering office with a $1.6 billion surplus and couldn't even wait two weeks before he whined about needing revenue.

We're in for an expensive four years, due to the citizens of Maryland again voting for single-party control. Once more, the fox is guarding the henhouse.

####