Gunpowder Chronicle posted on September 13, 2008 7:31 PM | Rating:
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Well, the word is out, and the Democrats in Maryland are beginning to eat their young. The Special Session in November, and the regular session earlier this year were spectacular failures. Given the opportunity to really and truly cut government spending the General Assembly really blew it.
The simple fact is that the national credit crunch has really hurt business, and the failure of the Democrat Congress to even lift a pinky finger on the energy issues has hurt consumers. That hurts business, too. And when business is hurt, it is consumers that feel the double pinch. Not only do prices rise (largely because of energy prices), but consumers lose their jobs (as businesses cut back). When you throw in increased taxes -- especially increased sales taxes -- you only magnify that problem.
Instead of slimming down, O'Guvnah and his midget servants in Soddom on the Severn decided to cut just enough while also increasing spending. He came into office with a $1 billion surplus, ended up with a $1.2 billion deficit, and blew $2.2 billion in the process. Now we are adding a 25% shortfall to that number.
And what is O'Guvnah's response? He sends Tommy Miller out to drive a stake through the heart of his great rival, Comptroller Peter Franchot. Not content to start taking out potential 2010 rivals, O'Guvnah also orders John Porcari to start cutting transportation projects back. Why? Because after the Bay Bridge accident last month -- caused by a sleepy 19 year old driver with a record longer than O'Guvnah's nose on the Sade Baderinwa situation -- Transportation is one of those high-profile budget items where the pain can be palpable.
It fits right into the typical Democrat playbook of forcing crises where they don't exist in order to achieve a broader goal. We saw a glimpse of this earlier this year, when The One stated that he didn't mind $5.00/gallon gasoline, he just wanted the price increase to be more gradual and less of a shock. We see this with the Constitutional Amendment to allow slots. Back when Ehrlich was governor, slots was about saving the horse-racing and related industries. Now, it is the savior of spending across the board. Why? Because for the last twelve months, O'Guvnah has been strapping more and more spending into a strained budget.
So my question: is it really a shortfall? That would imply that the progenitors of our outrageous spending had no idea that things would go sour. I don't think that is the case. I think they knew - I think they secretly hope for it -- and I think they went ahead with their plan.
O'Guvnah is forcing a crisis for a larger goal. The question is: what is it?