Light for All:
This morning’s Baltimore Sun article had a number of factual errors. We wanted to set the record straight and keep them honest.
If the General Assembly wants to reduce spending and protect the priorities of Maryland’s families, they should vote for Governor O’Malley’s proposed budget.
According to the Baltimore Sun, “the governor’s $13 billion operating budget avoids major spending cuts to state services, instead relying on one-time accounting maneuvers and hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars to balance revenue shortfalls.
This is just plain wrong…
Fact: The Governor’s proposed FY11 budget reflects more than $2 Billion in actions to control spending since the General Assembly passed last year’s budget, and
Fact: The Governor’s proposed FY11budget includes $1.014 Billion in budget reductions; and
Fact: Prior to submitting the budget this year, Governor O’Malley brought over $1 Billion to in cuts to the Board of Public Works that are reflected in the FY11 budget for the General Assembly to vote on, and
Fact: Governor O’Malley and the General Assembly have cut state spending by $4.7 billion; the Governor’s FY11 proposal will bring our four year totals to $5.6 billion in spending reductions. With the proposed FY11 budget the size of state government has been reduced by a four year total of 3,500 positions.
Fact: Today in Maryland General Fund spending IS LOWER than it was four years ago.
Fact: Today, Maryland is one of only seven states in America to earn a Triple A bond rating – a seal of fiscal responsibility certified by all three major bond rating agencies.
Light for All.
We listen so you don't have to.
We listen so you don't have to.
Why Won’t He Talk About GOP-Proposed Budget Cuts?
Bob Ehrlich has been slinging a lot of mud recently — on his show and in the newspaper — but we’ve noticed that he’s been remarkably silent when it comes to actually offering ideas for Maryland. His refusal to articulate even a modest agenda is beginning to make us wonder whether he has any ideas at all, short of repeating his term as governor, when he aligned himself with special interests, went on a spending binge, and drove the state into a fiscal mess. While it’s far easier, and safer politically, to sit back and throw grenades than to offer real proposals – which require serious thought and actual research — it’s hardly becoming of someone who wants to be taken seriously as a gubernatorial contender and not just another right-wing talk show host.
Now, Ehrlich’s decision to prioritize his own ambitions over Maryland’s future is hanging his fellow Republicans out to dry, as he has steadfastly refused to take a position on the centerpiece of the GOP legislative agenda: a series of major cuts to the state budget. It’s been two weeks since Republican state legislative leaders stuck their necks out by proposing the cuts, and Ehrlich has so far simply declined to discuss the proposals or offer any alternative budget cutting proposals, despite hosting a radio show about Maryland politics. On his show two weeks ago, Ehrlich mentioned the GOP budget proposals but didn’t comment. Last week, Ehrlich, who once deflected a listener question about budget cuts by responding, “I am no longer governor, so I don’t have to make those decisions,” didn’t bring it up at all. We wonder how legislative Republicans feel about the lack of political cover they’ve received from their party’s presumptive standard-bearer. And we wonder how Marylanders feel about a candidate for governor unwilling or unable stake out a position on a key issue.
Maybe Ehrlich doesn’t want to draw attention to his record spending that helped create Maryland’s fiscal problems. Maybe he just lacks the political courage to comment on a GOP plan that slashes education, the environment, state employees, and funding for local jurisdictions, and in so doing has divided the Republican Party. In any event, his silence stands in stark contrast to Gov. O’Malley and legislative Republicans, who have met the challenge of budget cuts head-on to forge bipartisan agreement on securing Maryland’s fiscal future.
Bob Ehrlich has talked big on budget cuts, in spite of his own record as a big spender, but he’s offered few specifics. He’s boasted that he would “cut more than he has to” if he is returned to office, and he’s said that he opposes the use of federal stimulus funds for ongoing expenditures in Maryland’s budget. He owes it to Marylanders to explain what those positions mean:
Does he support the Republican budget-cutting plans?
Does he agree with the O’Malley budget cuts?
If not, what cuts does he support?
What additional cuts would he then make to fulfill his promise to “cut more than he has to”?
Would he return the federal stimulus funds, and what corresponding cuts would he make to compensate for the loss of those funds?
This isn’t the first time Ehrlich has let others on the right do the heavy lifting while he has sought to obscure his own record for political gain. He has recently misled the tea party protesters, attempting to co-opt their movement without honestly disclosing to them his history of big spending.
But we get the sense that Ehrlich’s act is wearing thin even among his allies in the legislature, who are pushing self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives to put up or shut up. Here’s what state Sen. David Brinkley (R-Frederick) had to say regarding the budget cutting proposals:
“If you are not going to support these reductions, then tell the people where you are going to raise their taxes, because there will be no choice.”
Well, Bob?
Can I have 6 more weeks to think about it?
Once a year, on February 2, people wait around to see if a groundhog by the name of Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow. As we approach Groundhog Day, it struck me that Maryland has its own attention seeker – his name is Patuxent Bob.
He pokes his head up once in a while to decide if he wants to run for Governor, or if it’s six more weeks of waiting. When he actually talks about what he would he do as Governor, it looks like a scene from the movie “Groundhog Day.”
Ehrlich is at it again, promising to repeat big tax increases and spending increases.
Asked on his radio show what he would do to address the budget deficit if he were governor, Ehrlich said, “Look at what we did – that’s a pretty good road map to what we would do again if I found myself back there.”
What Ehrlich did was raise taxes and fees by $3 billion, including a 57% increase in the state property tax and a 40% increase in college tuition, then propose the biggest spending increase in state history.
Ehrlich exceeded the state’s spending affordability guidelines three years in a row. His final budget – which The Baltimore Sun warned didn’t “take into account the possibility that the economy might eventually sour” – ran roughshod over the affordability guidelines on its way to creating billion-dollar projected deficits. It spent nearly $700 million more than revenues and included nearly 300 more positions than recommended by legislative watchdogs. Leaders in both parties slammed it for its recklessness, and The Washington Post called it “fiscally irresponsible.” Even Ehrlich’s own budget analysis acknowledged that he was leaving the next governor with a billion-dollar deficit.
And yet, according to Ehrlich, if he were returned to office, he would repeat the same policies that led Maryland into a fiscal mess. We’ve seen this movie before, and it’s what helped get Ehrlich kicked from office in the first place.
