O'Malley Wants You to Pay 64% More In Gas Taxes

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, never one to shy away from more taxes, is reviewing a menu of taxes increases proposed by his own "Blue Ribbon" commission to close the state's structural deficit that he created. The tax increases include a nearly 64% increase in the gas tax (raising it from 23.5 cents per gallon to 38.5 cents gallon), increasing car registration fees by 50%, and bus and rail fee increases.

Why so many surprising new taxes? Ha-ha. These aren't surprising. Every logical thinking person knew that if O'Malley got elected he would ratchet-up state spending and raid the Transportation Fund to pay for it (because he could do that). He would then go back to the voters whining and crying how we have no money to fix bridges and roads, but if we could all do our fair share and accept massive tax increases, then our investments would be worth it.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of our elected officials raiding the Transportation Fund to pay for their pet projects. Republican Bob Ehrlich did it. I believe former Governor and New York-born Paris "My Wife is My Son's Age" Glendening did it. Martin O'Malley certainly has done it.

These tax proposals, which are all but sure to be passed by the short-sighted Maryland General Assembly, would raise an estimated $870 million annually, that is until they raise the taxes even more. And that's not all that unrealistic. The state wants to spend another $12 BILLION on more transportation projects. I don't think this includes replacing bridges and paving roads. This is additional spending: Purple Line in D.C. suburbs, the Red Line in Baltimore, etc...

And what's with this "Blue Ribbon" designation? Just throw some fancy adjectives in front of your commissions' name and make it sound more important? If you appoint the members, aren't they pretty much going to do what you tell them to do? "I appointed a Blue Ribbon Commission to determine who the most awesome political blogger is. Much to my surprised, they picked me!" "I appointed a Blue Ribbon commission to evaluate state spending and what to do about funding the depleted Transportation Fund and they recommended massive regressive tax increases that will hurt lower and middle income families the most."

So how many more years of O'Malley? How many more taxes can he raise? If you're keeping track, he's raised the sales tax by 20%, he pushed for massive fee increases to use the state's bridges and tunnels, a 50% increase in the alcohol tax, the cigarette tax increase, a 50% increase in many of the fishing and hunting license fees (which O'Malley said was a modest increase). The funny thing about the increase in fishing license fees is that after the state increased the fee, fewer fisherman applied for the annual license and the state actually took in LESS revenue.

So here we go again. More taxes. More O'Malley. There's many more things he could tax, I guess. So I guess I better stop complaining. I will go pump up the tires in my bike now.

Baltimore City Redistricting

The Sun has been running a series of articles about the redistricting that is going to be done as the result of the census. They have spanned from The Sun's joy of busting up one or both of the Republican Congressional districts in the state to the most recent articles about Baltimore City losing representation.

As a result of the continued mass exodus from the city, Baltimore's population no longer warrants the 18 state delegates and 6 state senators. This is causing an uproar in City Hall and in The Sun. Mayoral candidate Otis Rolley seems to be using this as one of his rally calls. The fact is Baltimore City lost another 30,000 people in the last decade. Most of them were killed. I'm kidding. Only about 3,000 people were killed in the last decade, though that's not really funny.

The majority of these people have moved into Baltimore County. The politicians, residents, and writers at The Sun are in angst because they realize that with less representation in Annapolis, they can't run to the Maryland General Assembly with as many hats in hand. Less hats means less money. As you can imagine, the tax base in Baltimore City versus the social needs requires that more money from taxes be sent back to the city than were collected. Imagine if you paid $1000 in taxes, then the state government gave you a check for $1,070 for such a good job you did.

Who is supporting Baltimore City? It certainly isn't Baltimore City. Montgomery County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Carroll County - more of our money is going to Baltimore City than anywhere else. And now Baltimore City is pissed off. Sounds kind of arrogant, doesn't it?

How do the greasy politicians plan to resolve this? They want to make the Baltimore City districts jut out into Baltimore County, but not so much as to allow the residents of Baltimore County to have a say in the election, but just enough to get their population totals to the minimum requirement. There should still be enough Baltimore City residents in each district to control the election. This will allow the city to have more districts begging for money than would be allowed if they followed the laws of political districts and made them represent natural boundaries or actual city lines.

This is nothing new. Maryland's former Governor from New York, Parris Glendening, tried it. He got sent to court and lost. Then the court had to redo the district maps themselves to make them fair. Do you think that we can rely on our elected officials to be fair this time? Of course not. They're already saying this is what they're probably going to do.

So residents of Baltimore County -be forewarned. Annapolis and Baltimore City want to make sure that your voice is not heard! Fight back!

William Donald Schaefer: My Take

As you all know, William Donald Schaefer passed away last night. I think by law I'm obliged to eulogize him. So, in my own words, I am going to write about Mr. Schaefer as I remember him and also to respond to other things that I've heard and read about him.

Schaefer, Mayor Schaefer as most of us remember him, was first elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1955. I'm not positive, but I suspect that the Baltimore City Council was as corrupt then as it is now. In 1967 he was elected to Baltimore City Council President, a position proudly held by Martin O'Malley, Sheila Dixon, and Thomas Carcetti.

In 1971 Schaefer was elected to Mayor of Baltimore, all I may add before I was born. The 1960's and 1970's were not nice to Baltimore. Race riots, fires, white flight (or more politically correct - urban flight), the destruction of the middle class (read as the tax base), and the disappearing of businesses that employed the city residents. The business district was in decay, shopping was becoming non-existent, and the Inner Harbor became a rotting cesspool.

Schaefer entered office with the deck stacked against him. But with his charismatic personality and his tough-as-nails attitude, he attacked Baltimore's problems. I remember him saying that if you fill the pot-holes and pick up the trash, people will be happier. Legend has it that he would drive around the city looking for problems and report to the different city agency heads demanding that these problems be fixed. Carcetti did the same thing in The Wire. He used his powers (not sure if eminent domain was used) to redevelop the land around the Inner Harbor and dot it with tourist attractions. First came Harbor Place, then the National Aquarium in Baltimore, then the Science Center. He used the philosophy that 'if you build it, they will come.'

In 1986, Schaefer ran for Governor with Mickey Steinberg and crushed Republican challenger Thomas Mooney. Anyone remember him? Me neither. As Governor, he helped get the ball rolling on building Orioles Park at Camden Yards, the finest baseball park in all of the land. If you think your baseball stadium is cooler, you only think that because Camden Yards paved the way.

In 1999, after a 4 year absense from politics ( Gubernatorial term limits in Maryland - thank God!), Schaefer reemerged in Maryland politics as the State Comptroller. He served for several terms until finally being defeated by current State Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Many people loved the man and remember all of the good things he did for the city and state. However, I did hear one woman on the radio say today that he was the best Mayor, Governor, and Comptroller in the history of the state. He was definitely effective, but best ever?

There have been other great Governors of this state. Do you know of Governors Thomas Johnson, Albert Ritchie, Theodore McKeldin, and Robert Ehrlich? And Mayors? What about Ferdinand Latrobe, Howard Jackson, and Theodore McKeldin (the last Republican Mayor of Baltimore)? And Comptroller. I will flat-out say WRONG! Louis Goldstein was the greatest Comptroller in the history of the state of Maryland. And I met him when I was in elementary school.

Our current village idiot, Martin O'Malley, has been on the campaign circuit for his next position for the last 24 hours posing as a eulogist for our former Governor. When asked what Schaefer's claim to fame would be, he responded, not about his accomplishments in revitalizing Baltimore's Inner Harbor, but that he'd be proud of his willingness to talk to people and let them be heard. Really, Marty? Is that what you want in your epitaph? Shall I start carving that on your gravestone? I didn't think so. O'Malley seems to have a chronic case of diarrhea of the mouth.

And O'Malley, don't try to categorize yourself as a Democrat like Schaefer. Schaefer was a Reagan-Democrat. A moderate. Someone who represented the middle class and the broad spectrum of people that don't fully agree with either Republicans or Democrats. Schaefer endorsed George H.W. Bush (not G.W.).

Schaefer must also be remembered for his blunders. Remember when he called Anne Arundel County Executive 'old Mother Hubbard' when she was running against him as State Comptroller? Or when he said that the Eastern Shore was a shithouse? Remember Eastern Shore farmers clogging up Annapolis and circling the Governor's mansion with out-houses being towed with tractors until he apologized? Or when he said that people with AIDS are dangerous and we need a public registry so we know who has AIDS? And the leering at the butt of an assistant to Robert Ehrlich, asking her to come back and walk away again. Or his referring to women as little girls?

And let's not forget about the 2 blows to Baltimore that happened on his watch. In 1973 the Baltimore Bullets NBA team left for Washington (Landover). Then in 1984, the Baltimore Colts were ripped away from the city, tearing with it a bit of youth of many people my age. This was basically the result of a pissing match between him and Colt's demon Robert Irsay. Bob Irsay 1, Schaefer 0.

Then there was the pissing match between him and former (thank God) Governor Parris Glendening arguably the worst Governor of Maryland up until our current head of state. A fountain was dedicated to Schaefer's longtime partner Hilda Mae Snoops who died when he was in office. Dick, I mean Parris, turned off the fountain declaring that he needed to save water. I can't remember if this was before or after Glendening started having an affair with a woman that was his son's age. But it was definitely after he made gambling as a fund-raiser illegal, after he used it heavily in his effort to raise money as Prince George's County Executive running for Governor. Fortunately, former Governor Robert Ehrlich had more class and turned the fountain on with a nice ceremony.

Finally, one of my friends posted on Facebook "Baltimore is the way it is because of William Donald Schaefer. I wasn't quite sure how to take this. Outside of the revitalized downtown around the Inner Harbor, Baltimore is still plagued with corruption and crime. Baltimore's schools are the laughing stock of the nation and a thorn in the side of tax-payers across the state. Or the lack of an integrated public transportation rail system. I'm not saying that those are his fault, but those are problems that are common themes through the resumes of all of the Mayors of Baltimore.

My fondest memories of Willie Don, as he was affectionately known, was of him wading in one of the fish tanks at the National Aquarium when it opened and getting nasty with people that didn't agree with him. You have to appreciate his politically-incorrect courage to stand up and say what he thought was right and not say what was popular.

As my friend Duckman would say, "Willie Don, rest in peace". But we all know you're up there giving them hell!

What are your memories of William Donald Schaefer?

New Top 10 List

I finally decided to update my Top 10 list on the side.

I had several comments about the previous Top 10 List - 10 Maryland politicians that needed to be voted out of office. My favorite one was the comment about how my blog is full of hate and the person was going to vote for each and every one of the people I had listed. Idiot. Not all of them are in the same district. No one can possibly vote for all of them. Unless of course, the Maryland General Assembly decides to allow early voting and the flexibility to vote anyway, which will allow people to vote early and vote often.

My new top 10 list is the 10 best Maryland Republicans of all time.

1) Helen Bentley - Congresswoman Bentley basically saved the Port of Baltimore and thousands of longshoreman jobs in the city in addition to related jobs around the state. Her activity with the port was so successful that it was eventually renamed the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore.

2) Theodore McKeldin - he was the last Republican Mayor of Baltimore (1963 - 1967). The city named the water fountains at the Inner Harbor named in his honor. This is the same water fountain where you can watch homeless people bathe during the day. McKeldin oversaw the construction of Friendship Airport, now called Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. McKeldin then defeated William Preston Lane Jr for Governor (who had the Bay Bridge named after him) and pushed for state highways such as the Baltimore Beltway, the Washington Beltway, and Route 50. He returned to being the Mayor of Baltimore and began the focus of urban renewal and a plan to create the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

3) Marjorie Holt - served in Congress from 1973 until 1987 and was the first Maryland Republican woman to serve in Congress. In 1975 she refused to sign a Congressional Declaration of Interdependence that would have given up national sovereignty and promoted a new world unity and subjected Americans to International law and redistributed American wealth around the world. She was eventually nominated by President Reagan to serve on the General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament.

4) Connie Morella - she was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1978 and served until 1987 when she was elected to Congress to serve Maryland's 8th district, much of which covered heavily liberal Montgomery County. Another moderate, Morella opposed the party's stance on abortion, gun control, gay rights, and the environment. Mike Miller, Casper Taylor, and former adulterer Governor Parris Glendening redrew the Congressional map after the 2000 Census to undermine her reelection. Though illegal, their gerrymandering techniques worked and she was defeated by liberal and socialism supporter Democratic Chris Van Hollen.

5) Bob Ehrlich - the most recent Republican Governor of Maryland and the first since disgraced former Governor Spiro Agnew. Despite high approval ratings, rating higher than the current Governor, the moderate Ehrlich was defeated by an unpopular and highly hypocritical Mayor of Baltimore (who probably wants a bridge named after him) who befuddled the Governor with flowery rhetoric.

6) James Glenn Beall - a World War I veteran and one of the longest serving (if not the longest, I don't know), Beall was elected to serve in the Maryland Senate in 1930. Beall was then elected to serve in Congress from 1943 until 1953 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate and served until 1965. He was defeated by Democrat Joseph D. Tydings, who's adopted father had the I-95 bridge over the Susquehanna named after him.

7) John Marshall Butler - another World War I veteran and long-serving Republican politician, Butler was selected to serve the Baltimore City Public Service Commission from 1947 until 1949. He was then elected to the United States Senate and served from 1951 until retiring in 1963. He was preceded by Millard Tydings, the I-95 bridge guy.

8) Gilbert Gude - first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1953, he served until 1958. He was later elected to the Maryland Senate in 1962 and served until 1967 when he was elected to the Congress where he served for another 10 years.

9) Robert Kittleman - a World War II veteran, Kittleman served in the United States Navy from 1943 until 1946. He served as the chair of the Howard County Republican Central Committee and, as a white guy, was a member of the NAACP. He was active in the Civil Rights movement. In 1983 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and served until 2002 when he was elected to the Maryland Senate. Unfortunately, he passed away mid-term. He was replaced by his son, Allan Kittleman and Route 32 is named in his honor.

10) Allan Kittleman - current Maryland State Senator and one of the few sensible voices in the Maryland General Assembly. Neither a conservative nut job, nor a blind liberal, Kittleman is one of the lonely dissenting voices to the radical legislation that passes through our state government, but he stands tall doing what is right.

Honorable mention - Jeannie Haddaway - once named the sexist politician in Maryland. I have no disagreement with that.

Mayor of Baltimore Arrested

On May 25, because of political actions against the government of the United State of America, the Mayor of Baltimore, in addition to the Chief of Police, the Police Commissioner, 31 members of the Maryland State Senate, and judges and newspapers editors were arrested.

Again on September 13-17, members of the Maryland Legislature gathered in Frederick City with devious plans. These traitors were arrested for being disloyal to their government.

Unfortunately, this news is not coming to us in 2007. This news is from 1861, as told by Daniel Carroll Toomey in his book, The Civil War in Maryland. The actions of our current legislature could land many in jail during the 1860's, but not now. Their behavior is endorsed and supported. One could only hope that our treacherous politicians would be facing such charges here in the 21st century.

In addition, election shenanigans are not new to Maryland. We are all familiar with the fraudulent gubernatorial election in Baltimore City when Parris Glendening ran. Lots of dead people voted for him.

In October of 1861, Augustus W. Bradford was elected, with the help of many Massachusetts soldiers that were stationed in the area to keep the peace.

Funny how history keeps repeating itself. And did I mention that history repeats itself?