Taxpayer Breaking News, May 2005

May 31, 2005. The Prince George's County government is facing a stream of accusations about bribery, cronyism and criminal behavior that has residents and politicians shaking their heads in disbelief, reports S.A. Miller in the Washington Times. "'Prince George's County has very high tax rates, and they spend like crazy,' said Dee Hodges, president of the Maryland Taxpayers Association.' When you have government that has a lot of money to spend, they are not very careful with how they spend it.'"

Maryland Democratic member of Congress Al Wynn joins with Republican Mike Pence of Indiana on the 527 Fairness Act - providing for more freedom, not regulation in political speech. "We believe the answer to inequities in the political economy of a free society is more freedom, not less. The 527 Fairness Act responds to the 'Summer of 527s' not by restricting the rights of Americans to support the work of MoveOn.org or Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, but rather by making a few modest changes in our campaign finance laws that are carefully crafted to permit our political parties to compete on equal footing with the 527s." See Wynn and Pence's May 24 Washington Times op-ed.

May 30, 2005. Stephen Moore of the Free Enterprise Fund advocates freedom to choose flat tax, in a Washington Times op-ed. "This plan would accomplish each major goal of tax reform. It would be: (1) sweeping, (2) dramatically simpler than the current tax code, (3) an enormous boost to U.S. economic growth, (4) fair and (5) politically feasible. The last point is the most significant: This plan would allow tax reformers to avoid the grueling task of dredging the Internal Revenue Service's tax code swamp."

May 30, 2005. Constitutional Option: Gang of Fourteen Won the Battle, Not the War, writes Paul M. Weyrich in Free Congress Commentary. "The deal is anathema to grassroots conservatives, the kind of folks who would be elected delegates to the 2008 nominating convention. They will not forget it. Their anger, shock and disappointment and, in many cases, desire for pay back is too great to be forgotten, regardless of the intervening events in the next three years. That John McCain will not be supported by these activists is a weak and unrealistic statement. John McCain will be actively opposed by grassroots activists who worked heartily for passage of the constitutional option."

May 27, 2005. A Numbers Game: Are athletic programs a money drain for universities, asks the Wall Street Journal. "For the time being, a train wreck is being delayed in part by institutions contributing more out of their general budgets to sustain athletics programs. Then there's the tax otherwise known as the "student athletic fee." For example, one public university in Florida raised more than $11 million this way in 2003-2004 and students at another state school now pay more than $11 per credit hour to finance athletics, whether they have any interest in sports or not."

May 26, 2005. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Votes No on Bill (H.R. 810) that Would Use Federal Taxpayer's Money to Destroy Embryos; Urges Support for His New Alternative - Respect for Life Embryonic Stem Cell Act of 2005. "What I hope, Mr. Speaker, is that my bill can be on the President's desk when he is faced with the unhappy choice that he will have with this bill, so that he can now say, 'Gee, I have a bill which supports what I want, and that is embryonic stem cell research without harming an embryo.' I believe we can pursue all of the potential miracles that could come from embryonic stem cell research and applications to medicine without harming embryos, and I urge an early vote and adoption of this bill."

May 26, 2005. Call me unimpressed, says Paul Mirengoff on powerlineblog.com. "Senator McCain is right about one thing -- this deal boils down to trust. I trust the Democrats to behave like Democrats, which means in and unprincipled fashion. And I trust the moderate Republicans to behave like moderate Republicans, which means lots of talk and no action."

May 25, 2005. State governments take in record $600 billion, reports Dennis Cauchon in USA Today. "Tax collections rose to a record $600 billion in the states last year, up 7.2% over 2003, the biggest increase since 2000. The money is rolling in even faster this year as many states report double-digit revenue increases through April."

May 25, 2005. Overspending has trumped meaningful tax reform, reports Bruce Bartlett in the National Review. "Too many conservatives delude themselves that all we have to do is cut foreign aid and pork-barrel spending and the budget will be balanced. But unless Republican lawmakers are willing to seriously confront Medicare, they cannot do more than nibble around the edges. With Republicans having recently added massively to that problem, and with a Republican president who won’t veto anything, I have concluded that meaningful spending control is a hopeless cause. Therefore, we must face the reality that taxes are going to rise a lot in coming years. I believe that a VAT is the least bad way of getting the hundreds of billions of dollars per year that will be needed. The alternative is higher tax rates that will be far more debilitating to economic growth. If we end up with a VAT, the fault will not be mine. The blame will go to those Republicans who created an extraordinarily expensive new entitlement program just to buy a few lousy votes. It is they who will bear the ultimate responsibility when financial markets demand that deficit reduction be once again the order of the day and tax increases become mandatory."

May 25, 2005. The New New Left, How American Politics Works Today-- a new book by Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute. "A new dynamic has sprung up in American politics today: the contest between those who benefit from an ever-expanding public sector and those who pay for this bigger government—in other words, it’s the tax eaters vs. the taxpayers." More.

May 22, 2005. Ehrlich Might Offer Bill Giving Gay Couples Rights; Governor Vetoed Similar Measure Friday, reports John Wagner in the Washington Post. "Ehrlich also noted that he plans to sign two bills that have been opposed by some conservatives in his party. One would add sexual orientation as a protected class to the state's hate crimes law. The other would require that schools report information about bullying, including instances motivated by sexual orientation."

Michelle Malkin reports from inside a Maryland illegal alien rally.

"The cops didn't mind intimidating Michael Graham, however. The WMAL-AM talk show host, who came provocatively dressed in an INS t-shirt, was denied entrance onto the taxpayer-subsidized, public high school field by organizers who said the protest was "invitation only." When he presented ID showing his affilation with WMAL/ABC News, organizers of the illegal alien driver's license rally told Graham he didn't have proper ID.

Yeah, that's right. They told him he didn't have proper ID.

Five cops surrounded Graham as he went back to his car. I asked Lt. Hack whether Graham would be allowed into the event. He said while Graham had a right to be there, the cops 'wouldn't and couldn't guarantee his safety. 'Lt. Hack referred dismissively to Graham as a 'nut' and a 'troublemaker,' at one point doubting that Graham was who he said he was. If only the cops had as much skepticism about the identities of all the 'undocumented workers'at the rally as they did for a law-abiding citizen. Graham inverted his t-shirt and joined the rally, only to be blocked from taking photos and shouted down as a 'racist bigot.'"

May 21, 2005. No Hoosier Tax Hike, reports columnist Robert Novak. "Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is back in the good graces of anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist after the final budget passed by the Indiana legislature did not contain the rookie governor's proposed surtax on incomes more than $100,000 a year or any tax increase. President George W. Bush's first director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stunned conservatives with his tax-the-rich proposal. Daniels and Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, exchanged harsh invective. However, the Republican-controlled legislature would not go along with the governor. Friends of Daniels contend the governor never really favored his tax-the-rich initiative but successfully was using the threat of higher taxes to force cuts in spending. Norquist does not quite accept that rationale, but all is forgiven with Daniels as far as Norquist is concerned."

May 21, 2005. Ehrlich vetoes bill for gay-couple rights, reports S.A. Miller in the Washington Times. Faithful TBN readers will note that delegate Don Dwyer and family advocate Doug Steigler (among other Maryland voices for traditional values) worked hard on these social issues. Governor Bob Ehrlich said the bills would have 'undermined the sanctity of traditional marriage as codified by state law.'"

May 14, 2005. State revenues roll in beyond expectations, reports David Nitkin in the Baltimore Sun. "'Though this may be seen as a surplus, these revenues are sorely needed to meet the needs of this state,' Schaefer said. 'We still face enormous pressure to meet future commitments to increased education spending and the continued growth in Medicaid costs.'"

May 14, 2005. Ehrlich Still Unsure of Gay Rights Legislation; Conservatives Push For 2006 Referendum, reports John Wagner in the Washington Post. "Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. (R-Anne Arundel), a vocal opponent also involved in the petition drive, said that voters motivated by 'values issues'were key to President Bush's victory last year. Ehrlich would be making a serious mistake to take their support for granted in 2006, he said. 'My guess is some people will stay home,' Dwyer said. 'They've done that in the past.'"

May 12, 2005. Start the accounts now, advise Larry Hunter and Peter Ferrara in a Washington Times article. "The government pays the interest on the Social Security trust fund bonds by issuing new bonds to the trust funds each year. To the extent needed to finance the Ryan-Sununu accounts for the next 10 years, those bonds would be issued instead to the accounts of each worker across the country. Workers would be free to choose to sell those bonds and invest the money in broader mutual funds if they desire. These bonds, of course, would not be new debt but rather money the government already owes to the trust funds under the current system."

May 13, 2005. Two General Assembly bills take modest steps toward a new environmental vision, reports Tom Horton in the Baltimore Sun. "His bill requires all manufacturers selling computers in Maryland to have an easy-to-use 'take back' program when consumers finish with their machines. Alternatively, they could pay $5,000 a year to the state, which would generate $400,000 to $500,000 annually - enough money, Morhaim says, to fund computer recycling around Maryland. Morhaim, who's spent three years getting this passed, says it's 'a baby step. ... We need to extend it to televisions and all the other consumer electronics that are now landfilled, with all their toxics.' A second bill that Morhaim worked on for years before gaining passage of a watered-down version this session involves making state construction adhere to 'green' standards."

May 10, 2005. Oregon mulls a GPS-enabled tax system for hybrid cars, reports Brendan Miniter in the Wall Street Journal. "Under a VMT a motorist would pay a tax for each mile driven, probably around 1.25 cents. To administer this tax, a global positioning system would be mounted in each car. As a driver fuels up, the device would relay mileage information to the gas pump, which would calculate the VMT."

May 9, 2005. Detroit eyes tax on Big Macs, Whoppers, reports the Washington Times. "Mr. Kilpatrick wants to ask Detroit voters to approve a 2 percent fast-food tax -- on top of the 6 percent state sales tax on restaurant meals. The mayor says consumers will barely notice the extra cents at the cash register, but critics say the tax would burden the poor and hamper economic development. 'Just tell him we're going to go to Bloomfield Hills to McDonald's if he puts a tax on it,' said Ebony Ellis, 18, referring to an affluent Detroit suburb. She and four friends eat at a McDonald's in Detroit every day after school because their schedule doesn't leave them time for lunch."

May 7, 2005. State decision boosts cash for charter schools--Public systems must pay equal funding per student; Md. school board issues ruling; reports Laura Loh in the Baltimore Sun. "In October, the board ruled that systems could not place a limit on the number of charter schools that could open in a given year. In its rulings yesterday, the state board said systems must give operating money to charter schools in cash rather than a combination of cash and system-provided services.The directive could mean that Baltimore's charter schools would receive nearly $11,000 per child out of the city school system's operating dollars, which come from a combination of local, state and federal funds."

May 6, 2005. One of the more dangerous political trends these days is the misuse of public pension assets for partisan end, reports the Wall Street Journal. "This legal brushback pitch is a response to the AFL-CIO's attempts to enlist pension managers as partisan allies. The union umbrella has threatened to pull its $400 billion pension business from any financial services company that supports personal Social Security accounts. This is political intimidation that no corporate pension fund would dare to attempt, lest it be sued. But it is part of a new union strategy that runs from California's Calpers fund siding with striking unions against Safeway last year, to New York State's Democratic Comptroller, Alan Hevesi, threatening Sinclair Broadcasting out of running a documentary critical of John Kerry."

May 6, 2005. The Vermont House has approved the most radical health care proposal ever to gain majority support in a state legislative chambe, reports John Mcclaughery in the Wall Street Journal. "The proposed solution was universal coverage for 'essential' services as defined by legislative committee. The state's 12 hospitals would be subjected to a binding 'global budget."'Doctors and other providers would be compensated on a 'reasonable' and 'sufficient' basis, in light of bureaucratically established 'cost containment targets.' Private health insurance for essential services would be abolished. The new system would be paid for by $2 billion in new payroll and income taxes.

May 6, 2005. Zalee Harris, Maryland's "education doctor" reviews the Maryland legislative session and more.

May 4, 2005. Montgomery County Taxpayers League meeting coming up. The meeting, Wednesday May 11th at 7:30 PM at the Council Office Building, will discuss May 13 revenue committee recommendations for May 18 County Council approval. Revenue review committee members include Marilyn Praisner, Phil Andrews, and Howie Denis. Additional member needed to provide independent testimony at the property tax relief public hearings on May 10th. For details, see: www.mctl.org

May 2, 2005. Some newspapers lose big in today's new circulation numbers, reports Editor and Publisher. "Compared to the same period a year ago, The Sun in Baltimore dropped a staggering 11.5% in daily circulation and 8.4% in Sunday circulation. On Friday alone, the paper lost roughly 14% of its circulation," the story reports. the "Washington Post reported daily copies down 2.6% and Sunday was down 2.4%."

May 2, 2005. Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens is spending the tax surplus, reports Shante Woodwards in the Annapolis Capital. "Officials from the Maryland Taxpayers Association said they preferred a budget that allowed the surplus to go to residents.. 'Any substantial surplus on the county level should be returned to local taxpayers,' said Richard Falknor, the group's executive vice president. '(A surplus) is not a . . . plaything of career bureaucrats or lifetime legislators. (Officials) .. continue to expand the size of local government, then they create a need for even more taxes.'"

May 2, 2005. Baltimore City Council to push for charter schools, report Doug Donovan and Laura Loh in the Baltimore Sun. "The disputes over funding and autonomy have landed before the Maryland State Board of Education in the form of appeals and petitions by two charter groups in the city and one in Prince George's County. The state board has said it intends to rule by next month."

May 1, 2005. Frederick set to become political battleground in '06, reports the Frederick News-Post. "'Frederick is a major player,'said James Gimpel, a political science professor at the University of Maryland. 'It's really become more of central Maryland than Western Maryland.' The renewed focus on Frederick became apparent Friday night, as both parties turned out record numbers for their annual dinners. Both Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Baltimore City Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is expected to give Mr. Ehrlich his strongest challenge in 2006, attended their party's dinners to deliver keynote speeches."

May 1, 2005. MPPI's Tom Firey explains why gas costs so much in Maryland. "Sheetz and Wawa fought the legislation, but in vain. It passed both houses of the legislature by overwhelming margins and was signed into law by Gov. Parris N. Glendening on May 18, 2001. The following September, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer sent letters to the editors of several Maryland newspapers proclaiming the legislation to be 'good for the consumer' and assuring motorists that the new law would not cause gas price increases. When the law went into effect that October, Sheetz and Wawa promptly raised their prices."

May 1, 2005. The Maryland Public Policy Institute's just released Health Care in Maryland: A Diagnosis examines issues affecting Maryland’s health care environment and offers fresh solutions. In a recent op-ed, MPPI's Thomas A. Firey, one of the book's authors, examines the so-called Wal-Mart bill, which would "force the retailer to raise [its current 5-7 percent spending of its payroll on health coverage] to 8 percent or else pay the difference to the state."