There's a method to Gov. Martin O'Malley's apparent political madness in pressuring the General Assembly to slap a new 6 cent sales tax on each gallon of gasoline sold in Maryland. Like a shady, fast-talking used car salesman, time is his enemy. O'Malley needs a gas tax hike passed now (before the average price of gasoline, already at $3.83 per gallon, soars to $4.25 or more by the end of May) because he needs money to spend on mass transit to reward his environmental and union supporters.

O'Malley defended his proposed raid on the pocketbooks of Maryland drivers before legislative panels earlier this week, warning that the state cannot wait another minute to fix its crumbling roads and bridges. But this is the same governor who had no problem taking $1 billion from the Transportation Trust Fund -- set up specifically to maintain Maryland's roads and bridges -- to pay for his non-transportation priorities.

According to the Maryland Department of Transportation's FY13 Budget Overview, its $9.9 billion capital program does not include funding for the Purple Line or the Red Line in Baltimore, which are "must-haves" on environmental and union wish lists. MDOT's financial plan for these new transit lines "assumes a sizable revenue increase." With the state close to its debt limit, a higher gas tax is one of the few ways O'Malley can raise the money. If he has his way, Maryland motorists will provide the revenue, but they will not be the beneficiaries.

Except for the Intercounty Connector, started under Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, highway funding in Maryland has continued to decline each year while spending on mass transit increased. In FY13, MDOT says, "highways will account for 24 percent of spending and transit for 48 percent" - an imbalance that will "increase dramatically" if the Red and Purple Lines are built. So increases in Maryland's gas tax, titling and registration fees will primarily be used to subsidize mass transit riders, who have consistently accounted for less than 10 percent of all statewide commuters since 1980.

The Maryland Public Policy Institute points out that MDOT is already spending nearly 25 times more on mass transit than its share of passengers statewide warrant, and O'Malley's gas tax hike would only expand that unfair imbalance. Even Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who previously supported a gas tax hike, called the governor's regressive proposal "a shot in the gut for the middle class and business." But O'Malley is obviously not thinking about them.