Friends,
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan
Before I talk about what's been going on in Annapolis, let me say a few words about today, the day we celebrate Veteran's Day. It is the day we should all remember those who wore the uniform to protect this nation, and have fought to preserve our rights. Among those rights is the right to free speech - even the right to blog! We should each pause to thank those who served. One way to thank veterans of the current war is a great new organization that has formed in Maryland - Operation Welcome Home www.operationwelcomehomemd.org. This organization greets soldiers, sailors, and airmen at BWI Airport as they return home from overseas. They greet them with signs, care packages, and welcoming smiles. If you cannot join this group at the airport, I encourage you to visit their website to see how you can help our newest veterans in other ways.
I am thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve our country in uniform. After I joined the US Naval Reserve in 1988 and founded (and commanded) the Johns Hopkins Naval Reserve Medical Unit, my unit was activated to serve at Bethesda Naval Hospital during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Even though my active service lasted only 7 months, I was proud to provide medical care for the men and women of our armed forces who served both at home and abroad.
Now on to what happened in Annapolis this past week. The Senate passed what is far and away the largest tax increase in Maryland history. Senator Pipkin, Colburn, Stolzfus, and I took to the floor many times to point out how harmful these new taxes would be - especially to the Eastern Shore. But the Democrat majority under Senate President Mike Miller - like the tax-and-spend Democrats in Washington - just plain don't care. They're professional tax increasers, and that's just what they did. $1.6 billion in new taxes, an overall tax increase of 11%.
As if that wasn't enough, they also added a $600-$900 million new health care spending program, but only made $220 million dollars (less than 1%) in permanent cuts out of the bloated state budget. All in all, a terrible week for Marylanders.
Even O'Malley's slots bill was a disappointment. It was very different from the Ehrlich bill in the past. For instance, this bill named specific locations like Ocean Downs (where the local officials oppose slots), and even cut the amount going to support the horse
industry to a paltry 6% of the profits. Wasn't that one of the main reasons for the bill in the first place? It seems that the slots parlor owners got way too good a deal in this bill. And I have always felt so strongly about local control over where to place a slots
parlor that I couldn't vote for O'Malley's bill. Maybe it will change for the better when it comes back from the House of Delegates. As it is now, it would be better to wait for the regular session (in less than two months), and to get it right, than to go with this bill.
That's it for this week.
God Bless the men and women who serve and served our nation at home and abroad this Veteran's Day.
Andy
2 comments:
Whats that? A politico doing the wishes of his constituents? We havent seen that out of our Congressman in years. But Wayne knows that, which is why he is running scared!
Kudos to Sen. Rich Colburn for breaking with the Rep. party position on slots and the referendum bill, and also for his amendment to exempt the Shore from the higher sales tax (too bad that failed).
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