Yesterday I noted that the Washington Post's John Wagner virtually cheered Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and the Democratic Maryland General Assembly for its recently-concluded, tax-hiking special legislative session. Well today the hosannas migrated from the front page to the editorial one. The closing paragraphs are rather telling (emphasis mine):
Politically, Mr. O'Malley will have more than higher taxes to show for his gamble. The new revenue will not only close the deficit, it will also help to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, extend health-care coverage to 100,000 lower-income Marylanders, build public schools, and add facilities for state colleges and universities. In addition, and critically, the governor secured about $420 million in fresh annual revenue for transportation, the biggest infusion of new money in 15 years...
[...]
Those are big achievements, any one of which might have been seen as an important accomplishment. They provide the governor a platform on which to run for reelection or higher office and an argument to support his claim to an expansive, generous vision of government's role. To have gotten them all after just 11 months on the job is a testament to Mr. O'Malley's tenacity, flexibility, political acumen and lobbying skills, as well as to a Democratic-dominated legislature that was eager to hand him a big success.
As I noted yesterday, Post writer Wagner breezed by new spending commitments that have come out of the special legislative session, particularly new spending commitments on health care which may well balloon out of control years down the pike.
But today's editorial makes clear the agenda of the Washington Post in terms of O'Malley, whose liberal bona fides the paper sees as evidence that the Maryland governor is a rising star in national Democratic politics.
With a presidential election coming up next year and the quadrennial parlor game about whom the presumptive nominees will choose as their running mates, it's hard to imagine the Post having a serious commitment to balanced reporting on O'Malley should he be floated as a vice presidential possibility or as a key campaigner for the Democratic nominee.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Comments Policy
O'Malley
November 21, 2007 - 14:09 ET by iveseenitallO'Malley, another pocket-picking "liberal". Looks like the voters of Maryland are just a herd of lambs going off to slaughter. When, oh when, will people wake up? And you ain't seen nothin' yet! Hillary, the Commie, is waiting in the wings, sharpening her axe-- not to cut taxes, but rather to cut off the heads of hard- working Americans. Can someone say 60% or 70% of your paycheck? What, you don't want to pay it? You insensitive lout!
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
There are 23 counties in MD
November 22, 2007 - 03:51 ET by ahusserThere are 23 counties in MD and the City of Baltimore. During certain election years I have seen close to 20 counties voting republican but it doesn't matter because there is no electoral college on the state level. Because of this the Welfare county of Prince Georges, the new Welfare County of Anne Arundel, The Welfare City of Baltimore and the super liberal county of Montgomery (soon to be the illegal immigrant capital of Md and new welfare county) rule the roost with those 4 entities overwhelmingly democratic counties with close to 40 percent of the population of of the entire state rules the roost. I've voted Republican in every election and aside from a couple of victories it a lesson in futility.
So to the liberal mind, if
November 21, 2007 - 14:08 ET by bassndudeSo to the liberal mind, if your raise taxes and increase the burdon on the population, take their money and expand goverment....you get promoted????????????
Am I smoking something Im not aware of?
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
"The new revenue will...."
November 21, 2007 - 14:11 ET by mattmWhat new revenue? This is what I mean about facts not mattering to Libs. Simply imposing new taxes or raising the rates does not guarantee higher revenues. In fact, revenue growth suffers under increasing taxes and revenues grow rapidly in response to tax cuts.
Obviously you can't cut taxes to zero and have revenue growth, but there is an optimum tax rate at which revenues are maximized and the negative effect on the economy is minimized. This principle has worked the last three times it was tried - in the 60's under JFK, the 80's under RR and now under GWB.
We are still above the optimum tax rate nation wide, and in my state (which also had a tax cut 4 years ago, and now has a balanced budget - under a GOP governor), but if taxes are increased, revenue growth will either slow down, stop or go backward...it's basic economics.
But Libs believe and promote lies...why they do this is anyone's guess. I say it's either ignorance or insanity.
The real Thanksgiving Story.
So Much For the Laffer Curve
November 21, 2007 - 14:36 ET by third eyeIts hard to describe in words my fustration and anger at Annapolis and in particular, used car salesman/Governor, Martin O'Malley. As a resident of Maryland, I judge the state government on two major issues I want done. One, which will never happen, is to adopt a tax code similar to that of the State of Delaware. However, instead of lowering taxes and pumping money into the economy, uninventive O'Malley is trying to raise taxes as the pancea to all that ails Maryland. All this does unfortuantely, is to give short term gains to O'Malley, and kills our already bleak economy in the long term. The second issue, is for someone to do something drastic about the traffic situation in the area. Because there's nothing I like better than sitting in my car 5 miles from home, for 2 hours because the infrastructure isnt half as important as buying votes is.
PR Maryland
November 21, 2007 - 14:50 ET by BeanManAs a citizen of the PR of Maryland I cannot understand why we got rid of Erlich? He had a 50%+ approval rating, we had a $1.5B surplus he had vetoed dozens and dozens of tax hikes etc. Why was he voted out?
As is usual with Democrats they just cannot wait to raise taxes. It would never occur to him to not spend money only to raise taxes to try and meet his spending goals.
Democrats never think of where we will get the money to pay the additional taxes. They don't care.
They also don't understand the Laffer Curve. If he reduced taxes on the State level, the coffers would begin to fill.
Since government is coercion, politics is largely the exercise of deception regarding the intended use of coercion - George Orwell
O'Malley
November 21, 2007 - 15:14 ET by iveseenitallLooks like O'Malley is a proponent of the "Laugher" Curve -- The more taxes you take in, the more money there is to waste.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
The People's Republic of Maryland's favorite commie
November 21, 2007 - 17:01 ET by BubbaJ"extend health-care coverage to 100,000 lower-income Marylanders."
AKA illegal aliens. Maryland is a sanctuary state, afterall.
We're moving to Virginia in about 18 months.
What braindead commies like O'Malley don't understand is their policies discourage businesses from coming to Maryland and encourage the rich and middle class to move out of the state.
I too live in the People's
November 22, 2007 - 03:39 ET by ahusserI too live in the People's Republic, should move but probably won't. The Dems in this one party state don't give a you know what about business. How about that cr%%p about Wal-Mart and health insurance. The funny (sad) part of it is the tax hiked goods like gas and cigarettes etc. are never more than an hour away from this snake bitten state. It aint like we live in texas where it takes 10 hours to get to another state. I recall truckers saying on TV that they were avoiding Md because of the higher fuel costs and that dingbat Mayor/Governor/Comptroller having the revenuer's patrol US 13 between Delaware and MD because of cheaper cigarettes and no sales tax on large ticket items like furniture. It's Va for cigarettes, Pa for clothes, and WVa for my gambling dollar.
Raw courage
November 21, 2007 - 23:36 ET by nkviking75"To have gotten them all after just 11 months on the job is a testament to Mr. O'Malley's tenacity, flexibility, political acumen and lobbying skills, as well as to a Democratic-dominated legislature that was eager to hand him a big success."
The last clause is the key to the whole thing. A Democrat governor in a blue state, backed by a Democrat legislature, passes a major point in the Democrat agenda, and that demonstrates "tenacity, flexibility, political acumen, and lobbying skills."
Yeah, right.
In a couple of years when state revenues shrink as people react to the higher taxes, will they still be cheering? No, they'll be too busy screaming for tax increases.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.