Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The governor touts $325 million in cuts even as proposed spending increases by 4 percent over the current levels.
UPDATED (6:32 p.m.)—Gov. Martin O'Malley Wednesday presented his budget plan for the coming year that he called "a jobs budget." The budget contains no tax increases though O'Malley declined to discuss the possibility of a tax for transportation projects. "These have been challenging times to say the least," O'Malley said. He was referencing the seventh budget of his tenure as governor at the same time that the state has weathered one of the most severe economic downturns in history. O'Malley said Maryland taxpayers "expect their government to do more with less." The proposed $37.3 billion spending plan is for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The governor's proposed budget contains $325 million in spending cuts even though the …
Monday, January 7, 2013
New evidence of relationship building and compromise that emerged as part of deliberations to avert the fiscal cliff are clearly a positive development that must be replicated throughout Congress.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the various events associated with the opening of the 113th session of Congress. As a guest of Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland's Congressman for the Eighth District, I was able to witness first-hand this biennial tradition. Those representatives and senators who were either re-elected or were selected by the voters of their respective districts for the first time will now begin the challenging task of helping to govern our great nation. Like many others, I hope that the next two-year session of Congress will ultimately prove to be far more productive than the session that just concluded. Looking back, the ineffectiveness of the 112th session of Congress will certainly be seen as legendary, rivaled…
Monday, December 17, 2012
Members of Congress from both parties should seek progress by immediately acting to retain current tax rates for 98 percent of all Americans.
Even with the general elections of 2012 behind us, there is still much doubt in the air with regard to the future course of our federal government. For 2013, citizen advocates for all sorts of causes will be seeking clues to see if the incoming 113th Congress can put years of partisan gridlock behind it and do the people’s work. The first chance for our federal leaders to strike a grand compromise comes with regard to the federal budget. As of the writing of this column, President Barack Obama and leaders from the Senate and the House of Representatives are desperately seeking strategies for averting the so-called “fiscal cliff.” As you probably know by now, the “fiscal cliff” refers to the effect of a number of laws which (if unchanged…
Brian
9:31 am on Monday, January 21, 2013
"Hate gays and immigrants as much as you want," Hmmm. I don't see this in my statement above jag. Actually, I hate people like yourself. Smug, arrogant people like you who are oblivious to what the government's role should be. Smacking sense into your head , all be it futile, would bring to me a great "sense" of satisfaction. I've learned by now that intelligent debate among conservatives like … more ›