Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label MD Issues fiscal discipline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MD Issues fiscal discipline. Show all posts

Monday, September 30, 2013

Blair Lee: Why Baltimore is not Detroit

Why Baltimore is not Detroit


There was considerable rejoicing in Baltimore city this week when George Mason University released a study saying that, compared to Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Providence and San Bernardino, Baltimore is on “reasonably solid financial footing” and is demonstrating “financial resiliency.”

Of course those other five cities are all basket cases (two are in bankruptcy), so being best of the lot isn’t so hot.

The Baltimore Sun highlighted the parts of the report crediting Baltimore’s success to sound city management provided by a strong-mayor system which lets the city’s Board of Estimates (controlled by the mayor) write the city budget and run the city’s finances without interference from the City Council, which can only lower the spending levels, not increase them.


But if you actually read the George Mason report it tells a much different story. What’s really keeping Baltimore afloat isn’t its mayor or its charter, it’s the billions of dollars the state of Maryland pours into the city every year… http://www.gazette.net/article/20130927/OPINION/130929269/-1/why-baltimore-is-not-detroit&template=gazette
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Friday, February 18, 2011

Stop the Gas Tax

Stop the Gas Tax  February 16, 2011 www.stopthegastax.com

Dear Supporter, 

I wanted to give you a sneak peak of the Maryland Republican Party’s new website (www.stopthegastax.com) aimed stopping new Gas Tax increases in their tracks.  The website will officially launch later today but I wanted to give our loyal supporters the first look at the new site.

For years Democrats have raided the Maryland Transportation Fund to pay for increases in government spending and to paper over historic budget deficits – by nearly a quarter billion dollars in the last year alone.  Now, they plan to ram through a variety of potential new taxes on the already record gasoline prices to pass the costs of their fiscal irresponsibility on to you.

Everything from taking your kids to school, commuting to work to running a business is about to get more expensive and we just can’t afford it. Use www.stopthegastax.com to let the politicians in Annapolis know that it’s time to trim their budget before they start taxing us at the gas pump.

Here are a few quick and simple ways you can let Annapolis know you won’t stand for new taxes at the pump:

Contact your state Senator or Delegate.
Sign the Stop the Gas Tax Petition.
Join the Stop the MD Gas Tax on Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Visit www.stopthegastax.com to get started.

Sincerely,

Alex X. Mooney
Chairman, Maryland Republican Party

20110216 Mooney Stop the Gas Tax

Md Gen Assembly 2011 428 Gas Tx


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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: 428 MGA It’s going to be ugly http://tinyurl.com/4ktmtk4


Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: 428 MGA It’s going to be ugly http://tinyurl.com/4ktmtk4

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4161  January 12, 2011 “It’s going to be ugly” by Kevin E. Dayhoff  http://tinyurl.com/4ktmtk4

Today is the first day of the 428th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly and, as in past years, the main question on the minds of the leadership of this august body’s deliberations will be, “Welcome to Maryland, what’s in your wallet?”

One of the many enigmas hovering over the upcoming session is the perception that this session will be a ho-hum gathering of lawmakers, filled with low expectations and high anxiety.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Many tend to agree with the assessment offered by State Senator-elect Joe Getty (R., Carroll-Baltimore). At a legislative breakfast last Thursday, Mr. Getty summed up his analysis of the upcoming session with one word: It will be “ugly.” … http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4161

[20110112 TT sdosmetal it is going to be ugly]



Monday, January 03, 2011

New York Times: Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow

Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Ever since Marie Corfield’s confrontation with Gov. Chris Christiethis fall over the state’s education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings.

“People I don’t even know are calling me horrible names,” said Ms. Corfield, an art teacher who had pleaded the case of struggling teachers. “The mantra is that the problem is the unions, the unions, the unions.”
Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy. In California, New York, Michigan and New Jersey, states where public unions wield much power and the culture historically tends to be pro-labor, even longtime liberal political leaders have demanded concessions — wage freezes, benefit cuts and tougher work rules...  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/business/02showdown.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Lost Opportunity on Pension Reform - What Maryland Can Learn From Richmond

MD Senate GOP Header
Maryland Senate Republican Slate: Lost Opportunity on Pension Reform - What Maryland Can Learn From Richmond

It appears that the 2010 Session will be a lost opportunity for long-term pension reform in Maryland.

That is unfortunate. Significant progress towards restoring stability in the state pension system could have been made under two proposals before the General Assembly: (1) the Senator Richard Colburn bill to create a "defined contribution" plan for new hires of state employees (see our prior post) and (2) the alternative plan to the Brinkley-Pipkin budget proposal to bring the counties in as partners with the state for future cost-sharing of teachers' pensions (see our prior post).

The blame for the lost opportunity falls directly on Governor Martin O'Malley and Speaker Michael Busch. That's the view of Gazette columnist Barry Rascovar who writes: "Who's afraid of an $8 billion deficit over the next four years? Not Gov. Martin O'Malley. Not House Speaker Mike Busch. Not the Maryland House of Delegates. For them, there's no need to worry today about what might happen tomorrow. That's the attitude that helped plunge Maryland into its current, woeful deficit, as governors and legislators over the last decade repeatedly supported huge spending commitments without bothering to find revenue to pay for them. Now, when faced with an opportunity to downsize that mind-boggling deficit by redistributing the obligations for paying teacher pensions, these politicians refused." To read the entire column, click here.
It's another example of where O'Malley and his policy advisors need to learn from lessons taught by their counterparts in Richmond. In commentary titled "What Washington Can Learn From Richmond," an editorial writer of the Richmond Times-Dispatch extols the budget balancing virtues of Republican Governor Bob McDonnell. Unlike O'Malley, who patched together a series of one-time fund swaps and federal stimulus funds as a temporary fix Maryland's budget trauma, McDonnell chose long-term solutions to Virginia's budget crisis.

On pension reform, McDonnell persuaded his State Senate (Democrat majority) and House of Delegates (Republican majority) to adopt a "defined contribution" plan for new hires - exactly what was proposed by Colburn in Maryland. While Maryland's Democrats cower before the public employee unions, the Times-Dispatch underscores the importance of rebuffing such union demands in order to secure the long-term budget security of the state:

"The most significant piece of McDonnell's budget -- though not widely noted -- was the decision to trim the pension costs of future state employees. By shifting the model for those hired after July 1 to one that more closely resembles private-sector retirement plans, McDonnell took an enormous step in ensuring the state's solvency -- which should soon emerge as a distinct competitive advantage for Virginia's economic development -- while keeping faith with past promises made to current state workers.This essential reform would have been impossible if Virginia politics were dominated by the public-sector unions that seem determined to drive California and New York, to name the most prominent examples, into bankruptcy, crippling tax increases -- or perhaps both. McDonnell has set an important precedent here." To read the full commentary, click here.
To see prior posts about the 2010 Legislative Session of the Maryland General Assembly, visit our website at www.mdsenategop.com

or sign up to be our fan on Facebook at

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Justin Ready for Delegate: Unacceptable


Justin Ready for Delegate: Unacceptable

Justin Ready for Delegate's Notes

Below is a press release from the House Republican Caucus with statements from Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell and Minority Whip Chris Shank. The Democrats in Annapolis have an insatiable appetite for spending and raising taxes. I applaud the House Republicans for trying to amend the budget to insure that there would be no new taxes over the next four years. As a signer of the "No New Taxes" Pledge, I have promised the voters of District 5A that I will reject any attempts to increase the tax burden as their Delegate. My goal is to to lessen the state's crushing tax ball and chain by any means necessary.

Governor Ehrlich's entry into the race against Martin O'Malley underscores our need for strong, energetic conservative leaders who will stand up for families, small businesses, and retirees who are being persecuted and often, have to leave Maryland to make ends meet. You can count on me to join great conservatives like Del. O'Donnell and Del. Shank in the fight.

Justin

House Republican Caucus:

House Democrats Vote to Support Tax Increases

ANNAPOLIS – House Democrats today made their appetite for future tax increases very clear.

House Minority Whip Christopher Shank offered an amendment to the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (SB 141) that would have expressed the intent of the General Assembly not to raise, expand, or create new taxes over the next four years. This amendment was offered after a series of Republican-sponsored amendments to reduce the budget and eliminate the structural deficit were rejected.

“It is clear from the debate on the budget and rejection of our amendments that there is no political will in the General Assembly to truly reduce spending,” said Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell. “Our budget analysts have told us that we are at the bottom of the barrel and there are no more funds to raid. If spending is not truly reduced, taxes are the Democrats’ only option.”

“It is time to level with the citizens of Maryland,” said Delegate Christopher Shank. “While tax increases will not be pursued this year, rejecting this amendment makes it clear that the Democrats in the General Assembly plan to raise taxes after the election - just as we saw in 2007.”

The amendment was rejected 39-94.

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Friday, February 26, 2010

Baltimore Sun: GOP offers constructive ideas for Md. budget

Our view: The plan drafted by two Republican Senators has its flaws, but it is comprehensive and merits consideration

February 24, 2010 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.budget0224,0,3431141.story

For years, Republicans in the General Assembly have been carping that Democrats spend too much, but rarely have they said what they would do instead. They occasionally propose an across-the-board spending cut -- a bad idea that fails to set any priorities. But often they eschew specifics, saying that if they offered any, they would only be fodder for Democratic demagoguery. Their grandstanding has been particularly galling since the vast majority of them voted for the biggest spending increases in decades when a Republican held the governor's office.

Republican Sens. David Brinkley and E.J. Pipkin, then, deserve a lot of credit for the proposal they released yesterday. It sets out two goals that are hard to argue with: making progress toward eliminating long-term imbalances between state revenues and expenditures, and doing it in a way that does not lead to more tax increases. Their plan is specific, and many (though not all) of their ideas are good.

Read the entire opinion here: Baltimore Sun: GOP offers constructive ideas for Md. budget - http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.budget0224,0,3431141.story

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee


Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

My wife called this to my attention the other day and we are less than pleased…

Ya know – this is nuts. Maryland should be encouraging the use of EZ Pass as it saves the state a great deal of money in personnel expenses and other assorted overhead with efficiency fueled by technology.

Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Despite the tough economic times, I knew Governor Martin O'Malley could never resist the urge to raise some form of tax/fee.

Read the rest of Red Maryland’s post here: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Dixon and City Democrats Get Raises While Contemplating Layoffs


Public officials accepted a pay raise in this economic climate is beyond bizarre…

December 10, 2008

Dixon and City Democrats Get Raises While Contemplating Layoffs


ANNAPOLIS—On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Mayor Sheila Dixon, City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Comptroller Joan Pratt and the 13 other City Council members had pay raises approved by the Baltimore City Board of Estimates, which all three of them sit on. The move was done without identifying the titles or names of those receiving a raise. This comes at a time when Mayor Dixon has not ruled out layoffs for city workers and revoked cost of living raises for middle managers.

“Once again, this is an example of Maryland Democrat leaders operating under a different set of rules than the rest of us,” said MDGOP Chairman Jim Pelura. “These raises amount to $26,250 which is a substantial amount of money to anyone who is not a big-government politician. Mayor Dixon is talking about laying off lower level city workers. I certainly think that $26,250 might save at least one job. Do as I say, not as I do is becoming a common stance in Baltimore City and the state of Maryland.”

“We need new leadership for Maryland that puts taxpayers, small businesses, and working families first. There are several leaders who have volunteered to take part in the furloughs for state employees. Mayor Dixon, Council President Rawlings-Blake, and Comptroller Pratt should follow suit and reject these pay raises,” concluded Pelura.

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To members of Maryland Republican Party FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Justin Ready 410-263-2125

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Governor Martin O'Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

Governor Martin O'Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

[ View Video / Read Remarks ]

WASHINGTON, DC (July 31, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley delivered a major address before the Center for American Progress today, focusing on the restoration of fiscal responsibility in Maryland. As states work to balance their budgets in the midst of a rising federal deficit, a faltering national economy and mortgage crisis, Governor O’Malley addressed how to restore fiscal responsibility while making critical investments in our shared priorities, like public education, infrastructure, energy and affordable, quality health care.

“Many States have had to deal with budget shortfalls by carving into priorities like public safety, public education and healthcare,” said Governor O’Malley. “None of the options are popular, but while some of these choices pull us backwards, other choices can and will move us forward – even in the toughest of times.”

Governor O’Malley, facing an inherited $1.7 billion structural deficit upon taking office, worked with leaders in the General Assembly to virtually close the budget shortfall through a series of reforms, including nearly $1.8 billion in spending cuts and reductions, the elimination of over 700 State positions, and the implementation of a progressive tax structure that allows 95% of Marylanders to pay the same or less in income taxes as they did in the prior year.

“Nothing that we accomplished in the three week Special Session was easy. But, throughout the difficult consensus-forging work, we continued to proclaim the goals that unite us: to strengthen and grow our middle class, and family owned businesses and farms; to improve public safety and public education in every region of our State; and to expand opportunity – the opportunity to learn and earn, the opportunity to enjoy the health of the people we love and the environment we love to more people rather than fewer.”

The Governor continued. “We eliminated government positions and implemented performance based management practices that helped eliminate nearly $20 million in overtime costs, and saved our State more than $20 million in Medicaid fraud recoveries. We closed the arcane, violent House of Corrections, which not only turned out to be the right thing to do morally, it also saved taxpayers $10 million. We replaced well-intentioned funding indexes that had fueled unsustainable spending in the past and threatened to accelerate spending in the immediate future. And we passed a package of legislation that modernized our tax code while lowering the income tax rate for 90 percent of Marylanders, and increasing the State Earned Income Tax Credit for hard-working families and our aspiring middle class.”

“When faced with a crippling structural deficit, we asked our neighbors in Maryland to embrace, once again, the politics of posterity. The politics which embraces the duty we have, not only to our neighbors, but to the next generation,” Governor O’Malley said. “The politics that believes tomorrow can be better than today, and that each of us has a personal freedom and moral responsibility, by our own actions and by our own investments, to make it so. Just as our parents and grandparents built our roads, our schools, and our hospitals with their blood, their sweat, their tears, and yes, with their hard earned dollars, we asked our fellow Marylanders to join us in choosing a better future for our own posterity.”

Governor O’Malley discussed the circumstances surrounding the inherited $1.7 billion structural deficit as context for the reforms the O’Malley-Brown Administration implemented to correct it.

“While a slowing economy exacerbated our circumstances, the primary cause was of our own making. In a flash of bi-partisan irresponsibility we had locked in nearly two billion dollars in increased expenditures, primarily in public education, while at the same time cutting income taxes for millionaires and everyone else by a billion dollars. And despite the $3 billion in backhanded stealthy property tax increases, fee and toll increases, and 40 percent increases in college tuition of our predecessor, the chickens of our bad math were coming home to roost. In the words of the great Abraham Lincoln, we could no longer ‘escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.’”

Outlining the strong, sustainable fiscal environment in which these reforms now place the State of Maryland, Governor O’Malley recognized the challenge that all states face in difficult economic times and the opportunities for progress fiscal responsibility can present.

“By taking these actions we were able to address a huge structural deficit that was years in the making. Two weeks ago the rating agencies affirmed Maryland’s Triple A Bond Rating, meaning that we’re still one of only seven states to hold the highest rating of credit worthiness from all three major bond agencies. But the true value of restoring fiscal responsibility is found in the progress that we are now able to make for the common good and stronger future that all of us would prefer.”

Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta founded the Center for American Progress, the think tank that hosted Governor O’Malley for his address today, in 2003. The Center’s experts cover a wide range of issue areas, and often work across disciplines to tackle complex, interrelated issues such as national security, energy, and climate change. The Center is designed to shape national debate through dialogue with leaders, thinkers, and citizens, affecting positive change and developing a position of long-term leadership for America.

[ Watch Video ]

Additional Press Releases

http://www.gov.state.md.us/pressreleases/080731.asp

20080731 Gov O’Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

July 31 Center for American Progress: Fiscal Responsibility July 21 Signing of Evergreen Marine Agreement Transcript July 25 Infants and Toddlers Program Announcement July 24 Testimony Before Senate Subcommittee on Government Efficiency July 17 Leonardtown Capital for a Day July 10 Announcement of Statewide Interoperability Strategy July 8 DNA and Bearcat Announcement