TAXPAYER BREAKING NEWS, August 2006,
continued from MTA Home Page

August 31, 2006. Don't Buy It: Spending-Limit Foes Try to 'Care' About Tax Relief, reports Kristina Rasmussen in Human Events. "Ranging from Maine’s proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) to Oklahoma’s Stop OverSpending (SOS) initiative, six or more states are likely to have some sort of TEL on the ballot this fall. Generally, the plans would limit state (and in some cases local) expenditure increases to the yearly rise in population plus inflation. Legislative 'supermajority' and/or voter approval would be required for higher rates of spending."

August 26, 2006. Appeals stall licensing ruling, reports Keyonna Summers in the Washington Times. "Delegate Herbert H. McMillan, Anne Arundel Republican, in the 2006 General Assembly presented legislation for the third time that would have forced the state to comply two years ahead of schedule with provisions in the federal Real ID Act.The act includes the requirement that all states by 2008 verify the legal status of license applicants, or the licenses may not be used for federal purposes such as boarding planes or entering federal buildings. Virginia tightened its licensing standards after learning several September 11, 2001, hijackers obtained licenses in the state.Mr. McMillan, who is running for a state Senate seat, said he will submit another bill next year."
||| Faithful TBN readers will recall that MTA Board member and homeland-defense expert Peter Huessy last February testified in behalf of the McMillan bill.

August 25, 2006. Ehrlich Prolific in Granting Clemency, reports Matthew Mosk in the Washington Post. "Many of his peers consider the practice politically risky, but Ehrlich said he considers it part of his constitutional duty. He has invoked his authority to clean the slate most often for those who have, in the aftermath of a youthful indiscretion, lived exemplary lives."
||| TBN wonders whether the Post would have used the word "prolific" in describing a similar policy by a governor of the Left, or, indeed, the pardons and commutations of sometime president Clinton. It is genuinely refreshing to see governor Ehrlich energized by exploring what could be a truly compassionate policy if prudently managed, and a welcome change from his unnattractive fixation on Maryland slots. President Bush, too, might have something to learn from the governor's pardon work.

August 25, 2006. State's early voting law rejected; Court of Appeals upholds lower court's ruling on controversial legislation, report Melissa Harris and Andrea F. Siegel in the Baltimore Sun. "'Today's decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals is a victory for the Maryland Constitution and for citizens who want fair and accurate elections in Maryland,' Ehrlich said in a statement this afternoon. 'As reflected by the Court's decision and that of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, the General Assembly's early voting scheme was flawed, irresponsible and a blatant overreach of its authority under the Maryland Constitution. I look forward to working with lawmakers next year to ensure that the laudable concept of early voting is implemented in a far more thoughtful, nonpartisan and constitutional manner.'"

August 25, 2006. NRA’s support of Dems angers Ehrlich, GOP; Four senators among those that Republicans plan to challenge in November, reports the Gazette.
||| TBN believes that there are really two issues here. The NRA has a national record for backing incumbents who support gun owners. This is no surprise to insiders, least of all to the candidates and to the State House. (Cynics might even say that these NRA endorsements give the Ehrlich administration a chance to bash the NRA and look good, in their view, to soccer moms.) Whether the NRA policy is a good one or not, "it's business, not personal," and it is their established practice.
|||TBN reminds its faithful readers of one hard-fought 2002 Maryland state senate race against a Democrat incumbent, an incumbent endorsed, on the basis of his formal record, by the NRA. (The incumbent was especially beloved by the Annapolis Political Class for his governmentalism.)
||| Maryland gun-owners quickly figured out that that Republican challenger was at least as gun-owner friendly as the senate incumbent and voted accordingly. The incumbent consequently lost. That is the benefit of a well-informed Maryland network of Second Amendment advocates.
|||The second issue here is the estrangement between this network and the Ehrlich administration. This parallels the Ehrlich administration's estrangement from values voters, from free-market and low-tax advocates, from smaller-government voices. TBN has consistently urged the State House to reconcile with these groups. But apparently Mr. Ehrlich is determined to "govern from the middle." The key to his thinking may be found in his membership in the Republican Main Street Partnership. Their priorities are quite clear on their website - - - as is the governor's name.

August 18, 2006. Business coalition turns to cyberspace to encourage voting; Nonpartisan Web site provides database of candidates and issues important to the workforce, reports Douglas Tallman in the Gazette. "‘'We’re a bit chagrined to find out how many [employees] don’t vote,' said Christopher Costello, a lobbyist for several business groups who is coordinating the Maryland Prosperity Project."

August 8, 2006. Maryland Officials celebrate first state-owned ethanol station, reports Earle Eldridge in the Examiner. TBN suggests to faithful readers that they visit the Heritage Foundation's very recent piece entitled "Making pain at the pump worse" where Ben Lieberman reports that "Washington has embraced an alternative to $3-a-gallon gasoline -- $4-a-gallon ethanol."

August 7, 2006. O'Malley rapped for 'neglecting' Baltimore, reports S.A. Miller in the Washington Times. "Carolyn Carwile said she won't vote for Mr. O'Malley again because the mayor's office does not return her calls about the persistent rodents and crime in her North Baltimore neighborhood. 'I look out my window, all I see is junkies and rats,' said Miss Carwile, 63, a registered Democrat. 'They act like they just don't care.'"

August 4, 2006. Councils' pay rise angers taxpayers, report S.A. Miller and Jon Ward in the Washington Times. "'I think it's too much,' District Heights resident Antonio Williams said of the 18 percent raise that increased the salary of a Prince George's County Council member to $89,000 a year. ... The pay raise for the Howard County Council, 45 percent to $49,000 a year, also was hard for taxpayers there to rationalize. 'A 45 percent raise -- that's no small thing,' said Mark J. Murray, 22, a bartender from Columbia. 'That does seem a little ridiculous. I think that will definitely affect how I vote.'"

August 3, 2006. GOP deserts principles by backing 2 bills, writes Robert Novak in the Chicago Sun-Times."I first heard on July 12 that House Republicans were planning to merge minimum wage and estate tax legislation. Thomas last week combined them with the extenders bill. Arrogant, acerbic and authoritarian, the chairman was going out with a bravura performance (refusing to walk across the Capitol to meet with senators)."

August 3, 2006. An Estate Tax Twist Reverses Party Roles On Minimum Wage, reports Jeffrey H. Birnbaum in the Washington Post. "In contrast, business lobbyists are seeking 'yes' votes. Dan Danner, executive vice president of the National Federation of Independent Business, the small-business lobby, sent lawmakers a letter of support this week. 'While we have strong concerns about the minimum wage hike, we're supportive of permanent relief of the estate tax,' he wrote. 'If Congress needs to address the federal minimum wage level this year, we believe it should be addressed in a package that also provides significant relief for small businesses. . . . The bill does just that.'"

August 3, 2006. Future of Orthodox Jewish Vote Has Implications for GOP; Small but Growing Group Receptive to Republican Ideas, reports Jim VandeHei in the Washington Post. "A number of Jewish donors, especially those in the Orthodox community, are assisting Santorum and others behind the scenes. In the short term, the biggest political benefit of the GOP's outreach to the Jewish community has been financial, Democratic and Republican officials said. Gary Erlbaum, owner of Greentree Properties in Ardmore, Pa., and other Jewish fundraisers have helped raise well over $1 million for Santorum and rally support for him in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. 'If he could get a majority of Jewish voters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, he would win the election, but there is nothing assured about that,' said Erlbaum, who is raising money for some Democratic candidates, also. Erlbaum is major backer of the Orthodox community in his state."

August 2, 2006. Media Missiles: Working for the enemy--Tom Gross reports for the National Review. "Another journalist let the cat out of the bag last week. Writing on his blog while reporting from southern Lebanon, Time contributor Christopher Allbritton, casually mentioned in the middle of a posting: 'To the south, along the curve of the coast, Hezbollah is launching Katyushas, but I’m loathe to say too much about them. The Party of God has a copy of every journalist’s passport, and they’ve already hassled a number of us and threatened one.'"

August 1, 2006. Examiner editorial slams new law requiring artists who want to perform in public spaces in Baltimore to pass an audition before the Baltimore City Board of Street Entertainment and and pay $25 to the city. "The mayor should act to dismantle the board, remove the law and focus city resources on fixing quality of life issues that matter, like reducing the highest murder rate in the nation."

August 1, 2006. Court Decision Moves State Affiliates of NEA Closer to Compliance with Federal Anti-Corruption Laws; Labor Secretary Chao Champions More Disclosure, Accountability, reports Ron Nehring of Americans for Tax Reform/Alliance for Worker Freedom. "Through its careful reading of the law, the Department found that indeed state and local affiliates of national labor organizations, even if the members of those affiliates consists solely of public workers, can be subject to the federal law. The Department’s finding was a major victory for labor reformers and those combating union corruption."