State should tear up the budget and start from scratch

Friday, March 27, 2009

No one can doubt our pocketbooks have gotten a lot lighter since Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) took office and he teamed with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George's) and Speaker of the House Michael Busch (D-Anne Arundel) to form a tax-and-spend alliance unprecedented in the history of the state. Maryland had a balanced budget and a $1.6 billion surplus in the rainy day fund when Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) left office. The liberals complain he didn't do anything about the structural deficit and was going to spend the surplus anyway.

A structural deficit, however, is a projection based on expected spending and revenues. If one anticipates a deficit, one either cuts back on spending or brings in more revenue, or both. Ehrlich was not in a position to do either after his electoral defeat, nor was he in a position to spend the money in the rainy day fund, so it was O'Malley that pushed us into deficit spending. It's infantile to even suggest Ehrlich would've done the same thing because it wasn't his budget.

What did O'Malley and his cohorts in the State House do about the structural deficit? Well, in the first year, they spent $1 billion of the rainy day fund. They then called a special session and rammed through the largest tax increase in Maryland history, declaring it would resolve the structural deficit for the long term.

They got rid of a computer services tax in the general session but replaced it with a "millionaire's tax."

They foisted a lie on the people with the slots amendment to the state constitution, persuading voters to approve it or else their taxes would go up and painful spending cuts would have to be enacted.

Maryland ranks 44th in the nation for cost of living, 40th for the cost of doing business and fourth in overall tax burden.

I've been told, however, that I focus too much on the negative, which is probably because I hate it when public servants lie to us and get away with it.

Therefore, here's my solution: tear up the budget and start from scratch.

Make the whole process transparent so voters can weigh in.

Only pay for what's critical — people on a budget know what's important and what isn't.

Make tax policy that keeps people and businesses here rather than drives them away.

Watch the money and make sure it's getting the desired results.

Kill programs that don't work.

Repeat the next year.

Any takers?

Ron Miller, Huntingtown