Maryland Governor Prepares to Inflict Tax Pain

When Martin O’Malley was running against Robert Ehrlich for Governor of the state of Maryland I knew it was going to be tough for Ehrlich, the Republican, to win. Maryland is infested with Liberal Democrats who would vote for bin Laden if there was a D next to his name. I also warned that if O’Malley, the Teflon Leprechaun, were to be elected he would raise taxes through the roof. O.Malley won and during the first legislative session taxes were not addressed though some of the Democrats wanted to strike quickly now that there was no Republican to veto their thieving ways. O’Malley decided that he needed to look at things and see what could be cut first and after the legislative session ended he gave his token cuts and said he had done all he could and that there would be a need to raise taxes. Now, O’Malley has called for a special session that will start in the next few weeks and they will look at ways to fix the Democratically induced budget deficit. O’Malley went on a two week tour telling everyone what taxes would be raised. It was his tax a day tour and by the time it was over, it was apparent that we were going to get hurt. O’Malley also indicated that he needed a special session now because it would be irresponsible to wait until the next session (but it was not irresponsible to ignore it during the last session and let the problem grow).

Maryland has one of the highest per-capita income rates in the country and we have high taxes already but the Democrats, who have controlled the state since the beginning of time, have never been fiscally responsible and their answer to every budget problem is to raise taxes. O’Malley has this whiny condescending voice that sounds like a twit and he grates on my nerves especially sine his message is not one I want to hear.

Maryland, get ready because you are about to feel some real pain and despite what the Teflon Leprechaun has told you, the taxes will affect all residents, even the poor folks and the children, because it is all about the children. O’Malley has stated that he will change the income taxes and remove the fair system we have now, replacing it with a progressive tax structure that forces people who make more money to pay more of a percentage of income to the state. As it is right now every wage earner pays the same percentage of income and O’Malley has flat out stated that this is not fair and he wanted to make it fair by making people who make more pay a higher rate. Imagine how fair people would think it is if people who paid higher tax rates were allowed to go the the front of the MVA line and did not have to pay for parking because they pay more. People would scream about how unfair it is and yet they think it is fair for people who make more to pay a higher percentage. This is because the Democrats have given us class warfare and idiots believe that it is actually fair to screw people who make more money.

O’Malley claims that (83-95% depending on when he speaks) will pay lower income taxes. This might be true but it is a bait and switch because these folks will lose the savings in all the other taxes. Other taxes must be raised because there are not enough rich people to support all the people with their hands out. So, O’Malley will raise the state sales tax 20% (from 5 to 6 cents on the dollar) and will increase the services that these taxes apply to. The only service that was left out is lawyer’s fees. The fact that O’Malley and most of the legislators are lawyers had nothing to do with that, right…

This will really hurt the poor. Most of the taxes that the state takes in is on sales and poor folks spend a lot of money on things. One major purchase will wipe out anything they saved on income taxes. Then the state wants to impose a higher gasoline tax as if the nearly 20 cents a gallon they get is not enough. O’Malley claims that the infrastructure needs work but the state never dedicates money collected for transportation to transportation. It goes to the general fund where it can be spent on unnecessary things. Maryland is a really small state that has a lot of toll roads that rake in millions of dollars. Where do they go? The cost to register a vehicle is really high and yet we never seem to have the money we need to fix things. It is called mismanagement and in Maryland the way to handle mismanagement is to raise taxes. The gas tax will probably be a percentage of gas price rather than a fixed amount per gallon. This way, as gas prices rise so so taxes. Who do you suppose this will hurt?

There will be a number of other taxes implemented and each one will be another painful cut in the budget of the working class folks in this state. The way they tax us here it is no wonder that a family making 3 or 4 times the poverty rate needs S-CHIP. If you make 60,000 dollars you only get about 30,000 of it to keep once the state and federal government gets done with you.

There is a simple solution to fix the budget problem in this state and that is to control spending. If they held spending to 3.5% they could wipe out the deficit but if they held spending how would O’Malley pay off all those he owes favors? Democrats do not want to hear anything about holding the line on spending because they love to take our money and spend it irresponsibly. It is a simple fact and the sad thing is that this is well known but people still voted for them. The only pleasure I get is knowing that these tax increases will be killing all the poor folks who voted for this idiot. I hope the taxes hurt them so badly that the only thing they can have for Christmas dinner is cat food. I know it sounds cruel but the fact is in order for some people to learn there has to be pain. Those who voted for him should be in horrific pain for a long time and maybe they will learn. I hope this is the most painful thing they have ever had in their lives and I do not care how it makes me look, I want them to hurt.

Now, we need to address slots. That has been in the works for a long time and most Democrats, including O’Malley, were against them when Ehrlich wanted them. Now that O’Malley is in he has changed his mind and so have others. The slots issue will be bounced around for a while but the taxes will take effect quickly. I was in favor of slots in the past. Marylanders go to neighboring states to gamble so why not have slots here so we can keep the money in state. Hell, the state runs the lottery and there are about a million different games to play. Slots will not make anyone poor who has not already become poor due to the lottery. I am now against slots and will never play them if they come. I will go to Delaware and gamble. They deserve my money more and my wife and I have talked about moving there to escape the tax burden of Maryland.

As it is right now we live close enough to shop up there for a lot of things. We shop at the Commissary so there are no taxes on our groceries and major items come from Delaware where they have no sales tax. We have avoided buying a new vehicle but will get socked with a hefty tax bill when we do, unless we move before that.

Maryland is in for a rude awakening. They will raise our taxes and they will screw us to the wall and in three years the budget will still be a mess. They cannot keep from spending so they will need to raise taxes again and again. For those who can, look for ways to reduce your tax burden. Purchase US Savings bonds because they are not subject to state or local taxes. Check with a tax adviser to see how you can avoid being a victim of rape in the state of Maryland.

O’Malley is a terrible leader and this state is run by a bunch of irresponsible idiots. They are going to inflict pain on all of us and we will have little to show for it. I only hope it is painful enough that people either change their minds about who they vote for or that it renders them unable to vote.

As for me, I think we should change the system so that you start with one vote and get an additional vote for every $5000 you pay in taxes. I bet people would scream unfair but it is as fair as the progressive tax. Hell, those who pay the most should have the most say in how the country is run.

BOHICA** Maryland…

Big Dog

**Bend Over, Here It Comes Again

Get Rid of S-CHIP Altogether

There was a big battle this past week after President Bush vetoed the huge expansion of the S-CHIP, a program designed to provide heath care coverage for the children of families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance. There were provisions that led us on the path to socialized medicine and they have been addressed so now I will focus on whether we need S-CHIP at all.

The argument made by those who support S-CHIP and its expansion is that people cannot afford 1200 dollars a month for insurance. We have to help the children and we have to help the poor. Now it has been shown that insurance can be obtained for around $500 a month but we can use the $1200 figure that the Democrats like to bounce around. I have come to the conclusion that we do not need the S-CHIP program and that it should be abolished because the poor can afford that amount of money. I have wondered about something for some time and Hillary Clinton’s supporters helped me to finally put the pieces together.

Let me explain. I have wondered how this country can be in the dire financial straights that the left likes to portray it. According to the left the economic numbers are bad and we have a terrible economy (despite numbers that are about the same as when the other Clinton held office). I knew this had to be wrong and I continually asked how it is that a country with such a bad economy could collectively donate so much money to political candidates. Look at the amount of money that has been donated to all of them combined and to Obama and Clinton in particular. How does a country with such a bad economy afford to give like this? Then I began to wonder about our poor and the S-CHIP.

My thoughts about S-CHIP started about the time the Hsu thing was breaking. In that story there were countless numbers of people who donated money to Hillary Clinton. These people donated $2300 despite circumstances that demonstrated that they should not have that kind of money to donate and yet they did! I mean, how could people who cannot afford $1200 for health insurance pony up $2300 for a candidate?

I thought it must be some kind of fluke but it evidently is not because today it was revealed that Hillary again received hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who make very little. This is the latest news:

Dishwashers, waiters and others whose jobs and dilapidated home addresses seem to make them unpromising targets for political fundraisers [sic] are pouring $1,000 and $2,000 contributions into Clinton’s campaign treasury. In April, a single fundraiser [sic] in an area long known for its gritty urban poverty yielded a whopping $380,000. When Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) ran for president in 2004, he received $24,000 from Chinatown. [LA Times]

The 2000 Census shows that the average annual income for that area is $21,000 or right at the poverty level. The Democrats, are pushing for an expansion of S-CHIP that would cover families that make three or four times the poverty level because they cannot afford the $1200 a month for private insurance. I think that the donations that Mr. Hsu collected from poor folks and the donations described in this article clearly show that people right at the poverty level certainly can afford health insurance premiums. Any individual or family that that has $1000-$2300 of disposable income to spend on a political donation can certainly afford to pay the measly cost of health insurance.

There will, of course, be skeptics who think I am way off base here and that I am once again bashing the poor because I am one of those cold hard Conservatives who does not care about anyone. People are entitled to that opinion but I offer this; there are only two explanations for these donations. The first is as I described and that people can afford them which means, as I stated, they can afford health care.

The second is that these are illegal donations to the Clinton campaign. Now I know that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid promised that this would be the most ethical and transparent Congress in history but that has not quite panned out and I also know that the Clinton’s have a long history of unethical and illegal behavior. However, Hillary will never admit to any wrong doing and her supporters and puppets in the media will not investigate or go after her for her ethical and criminal lapses even when video evidence of her illegal activities exists and has been introduced in court. There are a few folks in this story who say they did not donate and others who cannot be found, but it is unlikely the media will give this a real look. They have to protect mother Hillary.

Since they will not investigate, that only leaves us with the conclusion that poor people can afford their own health insurance. Unless of course Senator Clinton would like to refute that conclusion. So, having laid this all out I have this demand to make of Senator Clinton:

Either admit to your illegal behavior and withdraw from the presidential contest or introduce a bill to abolish S-CHIP. Either people need S-CHIP and you are a criminal or you are not a criminal and your poor donors, therefore, do not need the program.

The ball, as they say, is in your court Senator…

Big Dog

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Harry Reid Wants Some of the Credit for Rush’s Work

I wrote not long ago that Rush Limbaugh had placed the letter from Senator Reid and 40 other Democrats on eBay and that all proceeds of the auction would go to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Fund. When I wrote that post I wrote that if it was successful Reid would probably try to take credit for it. Today that auction closed and there is no doubt it was successful because the top bid was $2,100,100.00. Someone bid 2.1 million dollars and won the document. Rush Limbaugh, the guy who liberals tried to smear as an unpatriotic non supporter of the troops came up with this idea and then he matched the bid with 2.1 million dollars of his own. Not bad at all.

Harry Reid tried to get in on the action, just as I predicted he would. Reid discussed this auction today as it wound down and he was amazed that it had raised so much. He indicated that he had spoken with Mr. Mays, the CEO he wrote the letter to, and that “we” did not think it would get that much money. Here is what Reid said:

“Never did we think that this letter would bring money of this nature. And, for the cause, Madam President, it is extremely good. Now, everyone knows that Rush Limbaugh and I don’t agree on everything in life and maybe that is kind of an understatement. But without qualification, Mark May — the owner of the network that has Rush Limbaugh — and Rush Limbaugh should know that this letter that they’re auctioning is going to be something that raises money for a worthwhile cause.” Brietbart Video

I want to know where this “WE” came from? Harry Reid was not involved in this auction and he certainly did not write his letter in order for it to be auctioned off. In fact, the auction probably caused him a lot of embarrassment because he was bested by Rush Limbaugh. Reid tried to twist Limbaugh’s words and to get his boss to make him apologize for not supporting the troops and it ends up backfiring while raising a lot of money for the troops. So just how did Harry Reid have anything to do with this? As usual, this little weasel had his rear end handed to him and then he tries to turn it into a victory for him. Now Harry, you lose. It is that plain and simple. You and the other 40 idiots who signed that letter were made to look like the absolute fools that you are.

Reid urges people with the means to bid on the item (that was probably a plea for MoveOn to bid and then burn it up) but did Harry make a bid? He certainly has enough money after all his illegal activities. Did Harry Reid call on the 40 dimwits who signed this to match the winning bid? Limbaugh matched it. If each of these people donated $50,000 they would nearly match the winning bid.

But then again, these jackasses never spend their money, just ours…

Big Dog

Toto, I Don’t Think We’re in Berkeley Anymore

Not long ago a group of anti war hags from Code Pinko vandalized a Marine recruiting station in Berkeley California. They put their anti war crap all over the outside of the place and their intent was to drive the recruiters out of that bastion of liberal stupidity. Anti war protesters from CodePINK, Grandmothers Against the War, Berkeley East Bay Gray Panthers, Women in Black as well as others ran into a little roadblock this week when groups of pro America patriots who support the troops and their mission showed up to counter the protest.

The anti war moonbats were outnumbered 2:1 and were kept far away from the recruiting station by people who support the military and its mission. About 500 people showed up to keep the moonbats at bay and to ensure they did not vandalize the station again. Of course, they could still sneak back under cover of darkness and put up their communist propaganda but the message was loud and clear, this is not your father’s Berkeley.

One of the grannies complained that she was manhandled by one of the good guys. I was not there but I have doubts about this. The good guys do not usually get physical unless they are attacked first. When I have gone with the Gathering of Eagles it is usually the peaceful people who push, shove and taunt the pro troop counter protesters. If I had to bet I would say granny tried to get past them to the recruiting office and was stopped. Here is what granny had to say:

One of the peace advocates, Sheila Goldmacher, a Berkeley woman with Grandmothers Against the War, said she was pushed and shoved by the flag-wavers. “They have a right to be here — they do not have the right to be thugs,” she said. Contra Costa Times

As I stated, I doubt she was assaulted because no one was arrested and I am sure that if the police there would have seen any abuse they would have taken care of it. In any event, let us restate granny’s words to put them back on her. Granny, you have a right to be there but you do not have the right to vandalize the recruiting station.

Any questions?

Big Dog

Stark Contrast with Sanity

Today the Congress attempted to override the Presidential veto of the vastly expanded S-CHIP bill. The President wants the program to continue but he does not want it expanded as greatly as the Democrats do. The plan would allow states to cover children in families of four making $82,000 a year and “children” up to 25 years of age. The Democrats trotted out people who have benefited from the program which made no sense because they are already covered. It is estimated that about 10 million of the people who do not have insurance are eligible for one program or another but have not signed up. We need to get them on board and stop playing these games of expanding government control.

Pete Stark, a Congressman from California, took the floor for his two minutes and he was nothing short of a demented old fool. I have now found someone serving who is as much of a doddering senile old fool as Robert Byrd. This senile man called the President a liar and said that he [the President] sent children to be blown up for his own amusement. Breitbart has the video which includes an admonishment for referring to the President in personal terms (I guess that is bad form). In any event, this demented guy needs to retire and spend his waning days playing with silly putty and collecting sock navel lint.

The Democrats were out in full force touting the children and how everything was for the children. From what I saw of Stark, maybe we need to put some money aside to send old fools like him to the “home.”

Maybe in this guy’s world the President sends kids to be blown up for amusement but God must have allowed this imbecile to be in Congress and on TV for the amusement of the rest of us because this guy is a joke.

Big Dog