December 31, 2004. Ehrlich has veto ready for bill; Malpractice insurance steps inadequate, he says, 'Almost nothing in tort reform,' reports Stephanie Desmon in the Baltimore Sun. " [Ehrlich] also criticized the final legislative product for not including enough of the lawsuit reform that he says is necessary to produce long-term savings. He promised to introduce a bill during the regular General Assembly session that begins in two weeks, with much stricter limits on lawsuits - a bill with dubious chances since the governor's version of a bill this week was quickly rejected. 'If they override it, they will have passed another tax,' he said. 'If they override it, they will have passed a regressive tax. If they override it, they will have passed a tax that did not need to be passed.'"

Special to MTA! Pennsylvania Racino Licenses Selling for $500 Million Each, but Maryland Officials Want to Give Licenses Away for Free" says Jeff Hooke, Chairman of the Maryland Tax Education Foundation. "This policy ignores potential rebate of $2,000 for each of one million Maryland households."

December 30, 2004. Herb Macmillan's floor speech on the HMO tax and tort reform. "This bill is not about tort reform anymore. It’s just a Trojan horse for a tax increase that will subsidize doctors without adequately addressing the issues that have caused their insurance to skyrocket."

December 30, 2004. The Wall Street Journal comments on that "sluggish" U.S. economy. "To look closely at international economic data is to be reminded that countries with comparatively low tax rates and regulatory burdens consistently outperform countries with high ones"

December 29, 2004. Treasury Secretary John Snow is "on trial," reports Richard W. Rahn in the Washington Times. "Despite the urgings of many tax economists and scholars in the major think tanks (as well as some in the Bush White House), Mr. Snow has done little to insist his own tax revenue operation move away from static analysis and do more realistic dynamic tax scoring. Moreover, he has tolerated performance by some of his staff whose personal agendas have undermined administration positions. One example is a proposal (made in the last week of the Clinton administration) by the Internal Revenue Service to provide tax information to certain foreign governments (such as France) on nonresident aliens who invest in the U.S. economy and have no U.S. tax liability."

December 28, 2004. Senate, House committees approve own malpractice reform bills; Panels reject Ehrlich's version of the legislation; Debate in full chamber set this afternoon, report David Nitkin and M. William Salganik in the Baltimore Sun. "Dr. Willarda Edwards, president of MedChi, the state medical society, said she met with Ehrlich this morning and he told her the HMO tax was 'a deal breaker.' Ehrlich called the special session because sky-rocketing premiums are said to be forcing some doctors to limit or abandon their practices, or move to other states where costs are lower."

December 28, 2004. Doctor stars as tort victim; Documentary: A doctor-financed film stars a physician who quit obstetrics when her premiums soared, writes M. William Salganik in the Baltimore Sun. "Towson obstetrician Carol Ritter spent two decades delivering babies, earning a reputation as one of Baltimore's top woman doctors. Then she got sued three times in 10 months. Now Ritter is one of Maryland's most visible physician activists. Like other physicians, she has testified at hearings and spoken at rallies. But she has also become the producer and central character of a documentary. Today she plans to be in Annapolis at the special legislative session on medical malpractice reform, where she expects the final shots of the documentary to be filmed."

December 22, 2004. "Before we look at whether a national sales tax is a good idea, how about a little Economics 101 just to convince you that government spending, not government taxation, is the true measure of governmental impact on our lives?" writes Walter Williams in townhall.com. "The bottom line is that if government spends $40 of our GDP, we can't spend that same $40. There's no question that tax reform is needed, but tax reform is secondary to a much larger issue -- federal spending. From 1787 to 1920, except during war, federal spending was a mere 3 percent of GDP, compared to today's 20 percent. If the federal government takes only 3 percent of the GDP, just about any tax system is relatively non-oppressive. However, if government were to take 50 percent, 60 percent or 70 percent of the GDP, you tell me what tax system would be non-oppressive."

December 21, 2004. Ehrlich Vetoes Could Be At Risk; Special Session Allows Vote on Tuition, Wages, reports Matthew Mosk in the Washington Post. "Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s decision to call a special session of the Maryland General Assembly triggered a surge of activity yesterday around a proposal that would cap state university tuition increases and boost funding for higher education. Although the legislature will convene next Tuesday primarily to debate medical malpractice reform, the tuition measure is one of several that lawmakers could revive when they vote on whether to override Ehrlich's vetoes."

December 21, 2004. Special session impact unclear; Disagreement continuing on plans to limit increases in malpractice insurance; Leaders at odds over specifics; Attendance of legislators uncertain during holidays, reports Andrew A. Green in the Baltimore Sun. "Ehrlich's announcement that he would call the session came after three hours of meetings Friday with Miller and Busch. Ehrlich signed the executive order calling for the session at 5 p.m. yesterday."

December 19, 2004. Stem cell funding sought; Bills would dedicate $25 million a year; California has $3 billion program; Measure would support research Ehrlich opposed, reports Andrew A. Green in the Baltimore Sun. "The effort in Maryland has run into opposition. Six Republican senators signed a letter objecting to the title of Hollinger's bill, the Ronald Reagan and Christopher Reeve Stem Cell Research Act, saying they 'find it hard to believe that President Reagan would support a measure that would be at the expense of so many innocent lives.' Sen. Andrew P. Harris, a Baltimore County Republican and a physician who signed the letter, said he expects an anti-cloning bill to be introduced in the legislative session that starts next month. He said he would oppose Hollinger's and Rosenberg's bills on ethical and scientific grounds. If embryonic stem cells were so promising, he said, private enterprise would be funding the research and federal restrictions on grants wouldn't matter. 'The taxpayers of California were sold a pig in a poke on this,'he said. 'To sensationalize and say, 'My gosh, the biotech industry will collapse if we don't do it,' I think is just far-fetched'." [TBN Notes that Sen Andy Harris is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.]

December 18, 2004. Ehrlich discusses ban with Sun executives; Restrictions aren't lifted; governor provides articles he believes are inaccurate, reports Stephen Kiehl in the Baltimore Sun. "He said the paper's lawsuit against the governor, which asks a federal judge to lift the ban, is still pending. The paper has argued that the governor's order that forbids state workers from speaking with State House bureau chief David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker is unconstitutional and not in the public's interest on the grounds that it discourages 'speech by any citizen of Maryland who disagrees with the Governor.'"

December 17, 2004. Transportation ramping up land sales; Hundreds of properties could be sold, reports Steven T. Dennis in the Gazette. "'State government cannot be the black hole in which land always goes in and never comes out,' Flanagan said, adding that some developable properties essentially had been forgotten for decades. 'We were creating a drag on the state economy by hoarding land that we weren't using.'"

December 17, 2004. Officials to defend taxes on cell phones, reports Douglas Tallman in the Gazette. "'They don't want their customers to have to pay the cost of everyone's government. That cost should be shared by everyone, not just cellular customers,'said Kenneth H. Silverberg, the Washington attorney representing the phone companies."

December 14, 2004. M. David Sterling on"Red States, Blue States, and the Regulatory State" in townhall.com. "Last month, the county’s elected governing council enacted a "critical areas ordinance" to regulate, for the purpose of growth management, how privately owned property can be used. Under this regulatory regime, owners of more than 5-acre parcels are required to set aside and preserve in their natural state -- indefinitely -- at least 2 ½ acres and as much as 65 percent of their property. Owners of five acres or less must preserve 50 percent of their property in its native vegetation. Token activity on a natural protection area such as walking, gathering firewood, or removing invasive plants is allowed, but any form of building, even of a woodshed, could bring county enforcement officers knocking on the owner’s door. To be sure, the deep blue members of green organizations that pushed for the ordinance will be patrolling these rural areas in search of violators."

Accuracy in Media Announces Its List of the Most Underreported/Buried Stories of 2004.

December 14, 2004. Session on tort reform unlikely reports Robert Redding Jr. in the Washington Times. "Mr. Ehrlich, who has led the reform effort, has not publicly discussed the cost or indicated how he would pay medical insurers. However, a key senator involved in malpractice insurance reform has said the cost is estimated at $30 million to $50 million. The governor has said no money from the state's general fund will be used and that he will not consider a tax on health maintenance organizations that would generate about $80 million."

December 14, 2004. Maryland weighs selling parkland in Charles County to developer, reports Matthew Mosk and Joshua Partlow in the Washington Post. "State real estate officials said yesterday that no final decision has been made on what will become of the Charles County parkland, which was purchased in 1998 from a developer with the goal of preserving it. The land includes the 860-acre state park and a 1,340-acre wooded reserve named for former governor Parris N. Glendening (D), who oversaw the transaction.This year, records show, state officials have been actively researching the fate of the park, weighing the sale to a developer and another plan, backed by Charles County officials, to put ballfields on a 60-acre slice of the park."

December 14, 2004. Leaders to probe lapses at MVA; Lawmakers to question agency on report naming a series of shortfalls, writes Michael Dresser in the Baltimore Sun. "The audit made 22 findings of inadequate performance and controls by the agency from 2001 through last year. They included:

December 9, 2004. Woes persist for Medicare reform, reports Amy Fagan in the Washington Times. "'It was a stunning act of fiscal irresponsibility,'said Robert Moffit, health care specialist at the Heritage Foundation. 'They've accelerated Medicare spending, deepened the financial problems of Medicare, and they are crowding out existing private coverage.'"