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Fiscal fantasies

Originally Published in the Frederick News-Post

Government Transparency

by Marta Hummel Mossburg

OP-EDS

Either Gov. Martin O'Malley does not understand basic arithmetic or he suffers from delusional episodes.

His performance on Fox News' "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" earlier this month discussing the possible downgrade of Maryland's debt by the major credit rating agencies shows why.

Example 1: He said, "Our state -- and also on the other side of the Potomac in Virginia -- we've both been very fiscally disciplined, and it's something that Maryland is very, very proud of ... It hasn't been easy these last few years, and we've had to do unpopular things like raising the sales tax by a penny. But for that we have a very good quality of life and an innovation economy that's well-poised to create jobs in this new changing world of ours."

First, it is hysterical that he mentions Maryland and Virginia in the same breath, as if they share anything except the Chesapeake Bay, a border, and a lot of federal contractors. Our neighbor to the south tops Maryland in every business ranking, has a lower unemployment rate and attracts people through migration instead of losing them like this state.

He went on to lecture Van Susteren that "They're (the American people) complaining that we're not focused on job creation." But he did not mention that Maryland has lost thousands of jobs in the past year and ranks at or near the bottom of the 50 states in terms of job loss. He would flunk his own test.

Second, if raiding dedicated trust funds for roads, counties and the Chesapeake Bay on top of raising taxes across the board in the midst of an economic meltdown qualifies as "fiscally responsible," then the Ku Klux Klan should be considered a champion of civil rights.

Third, to label raising the sales tax by 20 percent a mere "penny" hike makes it seem as if every product, from a pack of gum to a car, would cost only $0.01 more. If that is truthful, then Bill Clinton never had sex with that woman.

Example 2: On the state's AAA bond rating ... "The reason we are threatened (with a downgrade) is that we are a part of this country."

If that were the case, then every state would have been put on notice. Maryland was singled out because of its heavy dependence on federal government spending and the state's underfunded pension plan. Neither of those issues has anything to do with being "part of this country" -- unless other governors stole Maryland state employees' retirement funds or forced the state to siphon their residents' tax dollars. For perspective, The Economist noted that Maryland has collected half a trillion dollars more in federal spending than it contributed in federal taxes since 1990.

There are at least three other examples from the interview that show a complete misunderstanding of basic math and/or a disconnect between reality and O'Malley's assessment of state finances. Space constraints do not permit an explanation of those. But for him to so egregiously misrepresent Maryland's economic situation and his role in it reveals him to be neither a leader of his state nor of the Democratic Governors Association, which he heads.