From the office of Del. Mary-Dulany James:
Friends,
I hope everyone is enjoying the spring as the school year starts to wind down and we all look forward to summer!
I read an article in USA Today the other day that discussed taxes, something in the forefront of all of our minds. I have included a link to the article below but want to put it in context of Marylanders. As a result of the Special Session, over 80% of Marylanders are paying less in taxes because of the increase income tax deduction, even when the sales tax increase is included. That coupled with the 10% income tax cut during Governor Glendening, and the tax cut under the previous President all means that Marylanders are paying less in taxes than they did a decade ago.
To read the full article click the link: Tax bills lowest since ’50s
In reading the article I found the following figures especially interesting. In 2009, taxes; including sales, income, property, and others consumed 9.2% of all personal income. This is significantly lower than the average for the last 50 years which was 12%. Also, taxes paid have fallen much faster than income in this recession. Personal income fell 2% last year. Taxes paid dropped 23%.
As a member of the budget committee I have spent the last several years looking for ways to cut spending while maintaining the programs and services we all need and deserve. It is good to see when cutting spending pays off in a big way and people are shouldering less of a tax burden. I recognize that there are many challenges ahead including more budget reductions, economic growth, and job creation. I will not stop working on these things until this recession is over and Marylanders have seen a full economic recovery.
Another article that is a bit older but I feel it is important to share is about Job Creation in Maryland. You can read the full text by clicking here. The article is from mid-April and discusses the high number of new jobs in Maryland. It is encouraging to see that while our unemployment rate is still too high, real progress is being made and people are getting back to work.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or comments by replying to this email or calling my office at (410)841-3331.
Very Truly Yours,
Mary-Dulany James
State Delegate
Harford and Cecil Counties
Still trying to keep your job huh? We are wise to your tricks, no spinning this one! Maryland has lost 400 jobs between 2 business’ this week. You supported the Gov.’s “highest tax increase in MD history” During one of the worst recessions in 60 years! And with the budget that you VOTED FOR this session, we are facing another large tax increase next year. Magically just enough time for you and your leprechaun friend to get reelected. Your time in office has come to an end!
Harco Res: The Md. Dept. Labor, Licensing and Regulation provide a very different picture than what you claim. Employment rose every month from January 2010 (2,947,719 to 2,956,051) and unemployment fell during this time frame (242,616 to 237,176). This shows a growth in employment and a decrease in unemployment. So why are you presenting a false picture? Did you even read the articles posted?
The numbers you have used to represent employment are the total workforce not the number of employed. The unemployment numbers are comparing the average to the January figure. And the unemployment falls every year in the same time frame(excluding 2009). This is emphasized by the footnote “These data are not seasonally adjusted.” But if anyone is interested in I have included the link to the real data.
The more interesting figure is that the workforce has shrank from 3,059,915 in June 2008 to 2,933,327 in February this year. That is 126,588 people missing from the workforce altogether couple this with those who are still in the workforce but unemployed and the “real” unemployment rate could be over 300K.
http://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/laus/maryland.shtml
U.S Taxpayer: This is the second time you have used flawed information.
Why is the number of total workforce incorrect again? Why would the week of the 12th of the month change the total? Since we took our figures from the same website the most you can say is that you interpret them to suit your argument.
You can hardly blame the drop in unemployment in 2008 on a recession that has plagued us due to Bush’s mismanagement. You do not want to admit it, but the Democrat stimulus is working.
Steve this is the second time you have tried to use an Observational Selection argument.
The numbers 2,947,719 and 2,956,051 are not the number of people employed as you stated! These numbers represent the total number of people working and out of work! Check for yourself. In fact I’ll do it for you.
January Labor force: 2,947,719, Employed: 2,705,103, Unemployed: 242,616
March Labor Force: 2,956,051, Employment: 2,728,484, Unemployment: 227,567
The 237,176 figure appears to have come from the monthly average and not from March.
Let’s say it together: 2705103 + 242616 = 2947719(Total workforce)
Now try March’s figure on your own.
If you weren’t so fixated on arguing with data taken from the wrong rows and columns, you would have noticed that had you chosen the correct rows and columns you would have a stronger argument. But that still will not change the fact that the workforce in Maryland has contracted and that there are seasonal fluctuations in employment.
BTW: I really am not choosing sides. I provided a link to the official source data and a comment that there is more to the statistics than just the narrow view that you provided. And yes I am correct in pointing out your observational selection a second time.
If I am wrong show me why and I will apologize. I am not unreasonable.
January
Labor Force 2,947,719
Employed 2,705,103
Unemployed 242,616
February
Labor Force 2,933,327
Employed 2,691,982
Unemployed 241,345
March
Labor Force 2,956,051
Employed 2,728,484
Unemployed 227,567
Now here’s the hard part Subract 227,567 (March unemployed) from 242,616 (Jan. unemployed) and you get a reduction of the number of unemployed of 15,049.
Isn’t that less unemployed?
Now do the same thing for employed. 2,728,484-2,705,103=23,381 more employed.
Isn’t that more employed?
Tell me how I am wrong in thinking that the employment picture is better in March than it was in January.
US Taxpayer: Good to see you are finally using the correct numbers to make your point.
I never said that the employment picture didn’t get better from January to March. I stated that this rise in employment and drop in unemployment is unremarkable in that it happens every year in the same monthly time frame with the exception of 2009. Because the time frame you highlighted is so small and infused with this annual trend it is irresponsible to say that a specific government policy has a positive or negative effect based on this limited data.
The second point I made is that the number of people looking for work in Maryland is down over the past few years. People have left the workforce. Are they sick of looking for work, I don’t know, are they pursuing some other interest, I don’t know, did they move out of the state, I don’t know. But the numbers state they are gone from the workforce and thus another hit to the number of people employed in the state.
Steve: I used (242,616 to 237,176) instead of (242,616 to 227,567) but that means the recovery is even better in Maryland. What is your point?
Yes it is a small sample. But is mirrors the national trend of economic recovery that Republicans are loath to acknowledge. Nationally “Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 290,000 in April, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent, and the labor force increased sharply, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in manufacturing, professional and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Federal government employment also rose, reflecting continued hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010.” http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
However, I think you have a point about the number of people looking for work as the Bureau of Labor Statistics also show a parallel rise in unemployment nationally of 9.9%. I think that number will reduce with time.
With the help of the Democratic leadership in DC, my out of pocket expences for health care just went up 1100%. Yeah, thats eleven hundred percent. In four or five years, should Obamacare not be hamstrung, there will be no private insurance companies and we’ll be seeing each other in the waiting room of a government clinic.
If you carry a (D) after your name, you’ve been selected to join your fellows in the unemployment line, and many of the (R)s will be right behind you.
The double talk doesn’t work any longer because there is pain out here. The cash cows of the middle class have been bled dry and we know who’s been taking. Mismanagement of Fannie and Freddie started a chain reaction that resulted in my home being worth 40% less than it was, thanks to a (D). Obamacare, once again a (D). These two alone, along with not getting a COLA raise because of the crappy economy, have cost me dearly.
Tax the wealthy and they will leave; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124329282377252471.html#articleTabs%3Dcomments
meaning we get to make up the shortfall.
You’re probably safe in your district, Mary, because there are more takers than there are givers, and giving a person something they don’t have to work for is an ancient way of buying votes. You will be made irrelevent though, when the seats above you get new occupants. “Give a man a fish”, and all that.
John Galt: Your argument is illogical. If you mean that the Republicans with the help of Democrats gave big business insurance companies huge profits, I will buy that. Remember we were not in majority in congress until 2006. It is the Republican Party who exists only to serve big business while feeding this crap to the Tea Party followers who are counted upon to vote against their own best interests.
The Health Care Reform Bill actually will be a HUGE boost for insurance companies. This bill is actually the Republican bill from Newt in the 90s. I was disappointed it was not a single payer system. You people just don’t get that the President is actually quite conservative much to my disappointment.
I agree that the Middle class have been bled dry because the very, very rich do not pay their fair share. If you make billions on investments you only pay 15% in taxes. What do you pay John? This includes the largest corporations who transfer their profits to accounts overseas and hide over $60 BILLION annually. As far as the wealthy leaving, then change tax laws so that they are taxed equally in all states. The reason you did not get a COLA this year is because THERE WAS NO INFLATION. That would be considered a good this for most people.
Now for your contention that Democrats take more than they give: this is a popular racist charge from Fox. The states that take more tax money that they contribute are the SOUTHERN REPUBLICAN states. If you like Republican states so much, move to Mississippi the home of the highest teen pregnancy, lowest high school graduation and fattest people.
John, have you read this? It is great and so true!
“There has never been a challenge that the American people, with as little interference as possible by the federal government, cannot handle.” — Bobby Jindal, March 24, 2009
“That was then.
This is now: 11 people dead in an oil rig explosion, fragile marshlands damaged, perhaps irreparably, uncalculated millions (billions?) in lost revenue for the tourism and fishing industries, and a short attention span nation transfixed by a compelling image from a deep sea camera, brown gunk billowing out from a hole in the ocean floor, Things Getting Worse in real time.
And Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, off whose coast this tragedy is centered, is singing a new song, starkly at odds with what he said last year in a speech before the Republican faithful. Now he’s begging for federal “interference.” He wants federal money, federal supplies, wants the feds to help create barrier islands to protect Louisiana wetlands from oil.
Not to pick on Governor Jindal. He is but one prominent voice in a chorus of Gulf state officials who once preached the virtues of tiny government but have discovered, in the wake of this spreading disaster, the virtues of government that is robust enough, at a minimum, to help them out of a jam.
One hears pointed questions about President Obama’s engagement or lack thereof in the unfolding crisis. One hears accusations that the government was lax in its oversight duties and too cozy with the oil industry it was supposed to be regulating. One hears nothing about deregulation, about leaving the free market alone to do its magic.”
“But instead of undertaking that project, people like Governor Jindal rail against the very concept of government itself, selling the delusional notion that taxation and regulation represent the evisceration of some essential American principle. They wax eloquent about what great things the free market and the free American could do if government would just get off their backs.
One thinks of one’s meat oozing with salmonella, one’s paint filled with lead, one’s car getting 12 miles to the gallon, one’s self being breezily denied a job for reasons of race, creed, gender or sexual orientation and, yes, one’s ocean covered from horizon to horizon with a sheen of oil. And one shudders.
You see, government is not our enemy. Government is the imperfect embodiment of our common will. That is a not-so-fine distinction Governor Jindal and others like him have lost in the rush to stoke the sense of grievance that burns in some conservative souls. It is a distinction they recalled with great clarity as oil began spilling upon their waters.
As there are no atheists in foxholes, it turns out there are no small-government disciples in massive oil spills. No, with BP oil soaking the sands of his coastline, Bobby Jindal turned righteously to that big, sometimes bloated, often intrusive federal government, and he asked for help. He said, Send money, send resources.
You will notice he never once said, send less.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bs-ed-pitts-20100530,0,5893760,print.story