|
Virginia News Source In Dubious Battle: Maryland’s Bob Ehrlich should pick the right targets by Richard Falknor March 2, 2004 Bob Ehrlich, now early in his second year as chief executive officer of the government of Maryland, has once more made the authorization of slots his overriding priority. He has already spent substantial political capital getting a slots bill from the Maryland Senate last week, and will spend even more getting the House of Delegates to agree. What the governor is not pushing, however, are the right goals. The governor is not pushing first-class K-12 education for Baltimore children. He is not rejecting the substance of the Thornton Plan, a wrong headed scheme to dump millions more into the failed Maryland education cartel. He is not fixing Maryland government by modernizing the civil service and state-pension plans. He is not privatizing the state's giant transport and other potentially commercial state activities, steps that could bring in substantial revenue. His is a story of opportunities forsaken. The biggest lost opportunity is his unwillingness to pledge to oppose any and all efforts to increase Maryland taxes. The governor once more proposes tax increases, this time disguised as ‘fees.’ Last year, Bob Ehrlich was successful in hiking the state property tax. Only slots, justified as paying for the Thornton scheme, seem really to bring his administration to life. The remarks attributed to Paul Schurick in last Thursday’s Baltimore Sun spell it all out: “The governor expects the Senate Republicans to support his [slots] bill and is making that clear to all 14 senators," said Ehrlich adviser Paul Schurick. The possibility that a majority of the caucus would vote against the measure "would be completely unacceptable to the governor, and we're making that clear, as well.” And last Saturday, the Baltimore Sun quotes Ehrlich adviser Schurick as saying: "The Maryland State Senate is the only chamber to have a plan to fund the Thornton plan, and we congratulate them for taking that action." But the chief of the non-profit Calvert Institute for Public Policy finds that “Thornton unaltered is the worst thing that can happen to education.” The governor's men may well be able to force seasoned, principled members of his own party into harness to help drag his questionable slots proposal through the General Assembly. But Ehrlich’s aides do so at risk of deeply alienating the affections of the faith-based part of the governor's natural base. The price of muscling slots (and open and disguised tax increases) through the General Assembly will be very high in terms of lost reform opportunities in Annapolis. Sadly, the tawdry Annapolis slots drama is a long way from the Reagan Dawn, the presidency of George W. Bush, and the vision of a free-market opportunity society in Maryland. It has the scent of classic crony capitalism. Bob Ehrlich is attractive, personable, and a skilled advocate. He will certainly preside over the Maryland Nanny State with far more fiscal prudence than his predecessor, and will be less driven to extend its boundaries. Regrettably, he will be more diligent in managing it, as we note from his recent efforts to breathe more life into the wholly indefensible Minority Business Enterprise program of awarding some state contracts on the basis of ancestry and gender. I am sure the Ehrlich political family and their very close allies from Comptroller Schaefer’s circle will argue their way is the only way one can govern in Maryland. Fair enough - - - if we did not have the examples of governors Bill Owens in Colorado, Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota, and Jeb Bush in Florida. None of those states’ electorates can be said to be right-wing reservoirs. In spite of his charm, youth, and energy, the governor’s way is that of traditional Maryland politics. Perhaps, gambling on the ineptness of his adversaries, the governor might well keep challengers at bay and win reelection. But many members of Maryland‘s center-right would suggest a surer way is through the governor spending his political capital to help put the Maryland Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights or TABOR on the ballot. This proposed constitutional amendment, based on the proven Colorado model, has several key elements:
Taking this path, Maryland could be more competitive with its neighbors on businesses and jobs, and the governor would leave a genuine legacy- - - one that would stand the scrutiny of time. __________ Richard Falknor is a conservative activist and an officer of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, Inc, but the views he presents here are solely his own. He was a long-time Maryland independent publisher and employer based in Prince Frederick. Earlier Falknor was on the professional staff of the Congress, and then a policy aide in a Cabinet department and a regulatory agency. Falknor holds an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. For more commentary on Virginia and Maryland, see |
