Cut the crap

Forgive me if I do not use pretty words this time around. Pretty words cannot describe the financial outlook of Maryland…nor does it describe the job that Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has done in regards to said outlook for the state. Just 10 months ago, O’Malley defended his actions in regards to the biggest tax increase in Maryland history by pointing to Virginia, where then-Gov. Mark Warner (D) raised taxes, and the commonwealth’s financial outlook improved after that.

What O’Malley didn’t tell you at the time is that Warner raised taxes after a bi-partisan exhausted effort to cut as much as they could beforehand. O’Malley is running the playbook by starting on the last page and working his way forward, and is not even doing a good job at that.

The financial outlook for the state, in my view, is going to be the same as in years past. There will be news of a structural deficit, and there will be wrangling about how to go about it. It remains to be seen whether slots will be a possibility after this year. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly will not really want to cut anything because they will be busy supporting a Democratic governor or stifling a Republican governor. In other words, we will be doing a replay of the past five years in one way or another.

For Maryland to improve its financial health, it has to be friendlier to business and to its citizens in general. It was a crime what the General Assembly got away with last November because of a governor who wrote promises that he could not cash. Four years before that, the General Assembly signed on to redo how they fund education, without a way to pay for it. To make matters worse, O’Malley is talking about what he wants to fund in the future assuming that Question 2 will pass next month.

Admittedly, it’s kind of hard to criticize an official who just happens to be in power as the economy is struggling. States all over the country are dealing with tough budgets. However, it is a little bit easier to criticize in Maryland because the total picture was not being looked at.

House Speaker Michael Busch (D-Annapolis) seemed to be ashamed of the fact that a couple of years ago Maryland had a really low tax burden. I would think that would be a good thing, especially with all that was being accomplished here. Now, according to The Tax Foundation, we are the worst in the union when it comes to tax burden, after California. We are also cracking Top 5 territory when it comes states that are not so friendly to business. As a state located in a highly competitive region, this is unacceptable.

Governor O’Malley is now in a position to go back on promises he made around this time two years ago. Perhaps these are promises that should not have been made in the first place.

P. Kenneth Burns is a broadcaster and journalist who blogs at Maryland Politics Today and blog.kennyburns.com. His email is kenny@kennyburns.com.