We listen so you don't have to.
Listeners to Bob Ehrlich’s radio show this Saturday got a startling lesson in Ehrlich-nomics: According to the former governor/maybe governor Senate governor candidate, low taxes for low and moderate income Marylanders are “a problem,” “not very good for democracy,” and “bad economics,” and should be raised.
Ehrlich’s rather revealing comments were triggered when a caller asked Ehrlich what he thought about “the fact that almost half of working Americans have no obligation to the federal government.” Ehrlich responded, “That’s a problem. Because the more people do not have sort of a piece of the pie, and have something at stake, it’s not very good for a democracy…. It’s not wise and it’s bad economics. We saw – we talked about it last week – the article in the Wall Street Journal last Friday about the missing Maryland millionaires.”
Of course it’s a myth that half of working Americans don’t pay federal taxes – the vast majority of workers pay at least some federal tax, most notably payroll taxes – but it’s true that, due largely to tax cuts contained in President Obama’s stimulus package, a significant portion of middle and lower income Americans do not owe federal income tax for 2009 and hence have a low federal tax burden.
Frankly, we think this is a good thing, especially during a global recession.
We actually thought Ehrlich would support a middle class tax cut, too – until we remembered the $3 billion in tax increases he imposed as governor, and the middle class tax increase he proposed last year.
We don’t know whether Bob Ehrlich wants to soak the middle class just to finance his planned millionaires’ tax break for his special interest cronies, or to finance even more big spending, or both. But we do think he should come clean with his “TEA party” friends. After all, lest Bob forget, “TEA” stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” Or maybe Bob thinks those protesters are all millionaires.
The relevant exchange is transcribed below:
Caller: What do you make, in the broader, socio-political economic sense, the fact that almost half of working Americans have no obligation to the federal government every year now, and soon it will be over 50 percent?
Ehrlich: That’s a problem. Because the more people do not have sort of a piece of the pie, and have something at stake, it’s not very good for a democracy, and – what’s the great Margaret Thatcher quote – ‘Socialism’s great until you run out of other people’s money,’ right?
Caller: Yep. I think someone needs to have the courage, though, to run on the fact that we all need to invest in the government, not just the top half of the economy. Not that it’s not fair; it’s not wise.
Ehrlich: Well it’s not wise and it’s bad economics. We saw – we talked about it last week – the article in the Wall Street Journal last Friday about the missing Maryland millionaires.
(Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / January 13, 2010)
When I heard that former Governor Ehrlich turned up at the “Tea Party” protest in Annapolis last week, I was surprised and a bit intrigued: he was going to be Jonah in the Lion’s Den, a big-spending governor who lost re-election in a face-to-face confrontation with opponents of big spending.
Needless to say, I was disappointed to learn that he had no intention of defending his big-spender record but, instead, had apparently decided to try to trick the Tea Party protesters into ignoring his fiscally irresponsible record.
While I may disagree with the Tea Partiers on many issues, I believe they deserve to have their views heard and that they deserve to hear the truth and not be exploited by him for his political ambitions.
That’s why I wrote him this letter, asking him to apologize to the Tea Party protesters. An Open Letter to Bob Ehrlich
Ehrlich Radio: We listen so you don't have to.
Last weekend, Bob Ehrlich urged listeners of his talk radio show to attend a TEA Party rally in Annapolis sponsored by Americans for Prosperity and other TEA Party organizations. It’s not the first time MD Republicans have tried to latch on to the TEA Parties. However, it looks like Ehrlich is trying to curry favor with the TEA Partiers before they find out he’s not actually a fiscal conservative and they Scozzafava him. It makes sense that Ehrlich would want to distract everyone from his own spending record. In case folks have forgotten, we thought it would be a good idea to remind them of a few facts about Ehrlich’s spending record while in office.
Ehrlich proposed the largest-ever increase in state spending. Ehrlich’s FY 2007 budget proposal contained the largest-ever increase in state spending. It spent nearly $700 million more than revenues and included nearly 300 more positions than recommended by the Spending Affordability Committee. (Department of Legislative Services, Budget Analysis, January 23, 2006)
Ehrlich exceeded the spending affordability guidelines. Ehrlich’s FY 2005, FY 2006 and FY 2007 budget proposals each exceeded spending limits recommended by the Spending Affordability Committee.
Ehrlich was criticized for reckless spending that didn’t “take into account the possibility that the economy might eventually sour.” A January 2006 Baltimore Sun editorial criticized Ehrlich for his spending increases, arguing they were reckless because they would cause budget pain in future years if the economy declined: “But it’s hard to endorse a management philosophy that doesn’t look beyond 2006 – or take into account the possibility that the economy might eventually sour.”
Something tells me that Ehrlich won’t be joining his listeners at this rally, but if he does, he’d probably be a little worried if the TEA Partiers found out that he’s not really one of them.
