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Money Doesn’t Buy Results

Marc Kilmer — Thu, 4 Mar 2010

As predictable as night following day, talk of tinkering with education funding in Annapolis provoked a rally on the Statehouse steps by educators, parents, and children decrying any reduction in education funding. As one parent said, "There are some things that are indispensable. Education for our children is one of those things." Certainly. But what does that have to do with how much money is spent on education?

How Much Did You Say That Would Cost?

John J. Walters — Wed, 3 Mar 2010

Twenty billion? Great! I was just thinking that's how much I'd like to pay to fix the storm drains in Baltimore City.

Union power grab

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Wed, 3 Mar 2010

At a time when the state has no money to spare, Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to give more power to one union at the expense of family child care workers, the families they serve and, ultimately, taxpayers.

Why Maryland Doesn’t Need Universal Preschool

Dan Lips — Mon, 1 Mar 2010

Governor Martin O'Malley's "Maryland's Preschool for All Business Plan," created in December 2009, intends to "outline the direction for implementing the [universal preschool] program during the second decade of the 2000s." The initiative, like many liberal initiatives of its kind, is based on the assumption of a "multiplier effect" -- that universal preschool will better prepare young students for grades K-12 and provide such spillover benefits as reduced grade retention, special education enrollments, teen pregnancy, and criminal arrests, while increasing high school graduation and employment rates.

High Taxes = High Profits for Smugglers

Marc Kilmer — Thu, 25 Feb 2010

That Vinny DeMarco is a clever one. In a recent letter to the Baltimore Sun, the self-appointed public health advocate praised the fact that Republican members of the General Assembly did not call for a repeal of the $1 cigarette tax hike (enacted in 2007) as part of their deficit reduction plan. DeMarco claimed that "it saved many lives by reducing the number of packs of cigarettes sold in Maryland by over 73 million..." Notice the clever wording: "reducing the number of cigarettes sold". Could it be that Mr. DeMarco now realizes that this tax hike has not only reduced the number of smokers in the state (as it probably has) but it has also increased cigarette smuggling?

All Work and No Profit Makes Business Go Away

John J. Walters — Wed, 24 Feb 2010

The following was written by an Albert Klappenberger of Salisbury, MD as an attempt to explain why we need to further regulate and socialize the healthcare industry. It is instead yet another example of a simple misunderstanding of a relatively simple economic concept (in this case: profit) can, and generally does, lead to support of a system doomed to failure.

A Little Insurance Competition in Maryland?

Marc Kilmer — Mon, 22 Feb 2010

In the debate over health care in Washington, D.C., President Obama correctly contends that a lack of competition in the health insurance marketplace keeps prices high, although he proposes a government-run insurance company to offer this competition. Republicans counter that the only thing currently preventing more competition is states refusing to let their residents buy policies across state lines. Interestingly, a Democrat in Annapolis has authored legislation that may take Marylanders a step closer to enjoying the benefits of health insurance competition.

Weatherization off to a slow start nationally, even slower start locally

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Mon, 22 Feb 2010

A U.S. Government Accountability Act report released last week showed prevailing wage requirements built into the Recovery Act meant only a fraction of homes were updated last year that were supposed to be. The Department of Labor spent most of last year coming up with prevailing wages for each of the 3,000 counties in the US, releasing a report in September -- at which point many counties started the program.

Crawling to the Top in Education Reform

Carrie L. Lukas — Sun, 21 Feb 2010

Maryland is the latest state to join the so-called "Race to the Top" education reform competition-the U.S. Department of Education's $4 billion competitive grant program that aims to encourage states to enact various policies, like stronger charter school laws, teacher tenure reforms, and adopting national standards and tests, to receive more federal funding.

Maryland’s Pension Tsunami

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Fri, 19 Feb 2010

The Pew Center on the States released earlier this week "The Trillion Dollar Gap: Underfunded State Retirement Systems and the Roads to Reform." It should have been called "The Road to Serfdom" like the Hayek classic.

Shine a light

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Fri, 19 Feb 2010

A favorite editor loved to say, "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out." He didn't trust any one source, and neither should state taxpayers when it comes to over $900 million given each year to nonprofit groups and businesses charged with fulfilling the state's business and millions more loaned by state agencies to businesses at favorable rates and often with no consequences for default.

Nonexistent federal funds can’t balance the books

Marc Kilmer — Thu, 18 Feb 2010

It's the governor's duty to submit a balanced budget to the General Assembly every year. Gov. Martin O'Malley claims he has done so. However, his budget is only balanced because he assumed the presence of $389 million in federal Medicaid funds that have yet to be appropriated -- and will likely never materialize. Counting on this nonexistent money is a poor way to write a budget, but it's the inevitable result of the failure to confront out-of-control Medicaid spending.

O’Malley’s big spending budget

Marc Kilmer — Wed, 17 Feb 2010

On January 19, Governor O'Malley unveiled his Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal. Here are a few facts about his proposal:

The proposed budget is $32 billion, up from $28.1 billion in 2007.

House of Delegates fails to tackle legislators’ benefits

Andrew Serafini — Wed, 17 Feb 2010

Wednesday, February 10, and again on Friday, February 12, on the floor of the Maryland House of Delegates a very interesting series of events occurred. Due to the blizzard many delegates were unable to attend much less any media. The expectation was that very little business would take place.

What O’Malley’s ’State of the State’ should say

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Tue, 2 Feb 2010

Two leitmotifs of Gov. Martin O'Malley's speeches this year are: Things are not as bad in Maryland as they are in other states; and Maryland needs more help from Washington.

If he draws from that rhetorical playbook at his "State of the State" speech today, he will come off as uninspiring and rudderless. Who wants to follow a leader who defines himself only by how others perform?

Michael Steele flunks his own 12-step program

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Tue, 26 Jan 2010

Recent election results bolster Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's prescription for derailing the Democrats. His new book, "Right Now: A 12-step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda" outlines why returning to a principled, free-market agenda will deliver a Republican majority to Congress.

O’Malley to let it ride on Medicaid

Sean R. Sedam | Gazette Staff Writer — Fri, 22 Jan 2010

ANNAPOLIS - Gov. Martin O'Malley's inclusion of $389 million in federal aid for Medicaid in his $13.2 billion budget represents a bet that Congress is again going to bridge a growing cost that has the potential to cripple states struggling to emerge from the recession

Business proposals only government could love

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Tue, 19 Jan 2010

One of his most recent proposals is to give business owners a $3,000 tax credit for hiring Marylanders who lost their jobs. It sounds clever, but makes no sense. Think about it.

First, he's punishing business owners who managed through the downturn and either retained their employees or hired new ones throughout the year.

Second, he's providing a huge incentive for business owners to fire employees and then rehire them to attain the credit. Unless O'Malley hires people to police the tax credit program, how would anyone know if businesses took advantage of the system?

State teachers union will bust budgets if legislation passes

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Tue, 12 Jan 2010

You have to give the Maryland teachers union credit for its chutzpah. It is like a teenager who tells her parents she needs their credit card to buy school supplies and then drives to Neiman Marcus.

The only problem: The credit card the union wants to abuse is the one paid for by every state taxpayer.

Spending as usual in Maryland General Assembly

Marta Hummel Mossburg — Tue, 5 Jan 2010

What $2 billion deficit? The pre-filed bills before the Maryland legislature show pet causes, narrow interests and bigger spending will dominate debate when legislators convene on Jan. 13 for the 2010 session.