From Sen. Nancy Jacobs:
Feeling pain at the pump? If you think gas costs too much now, brace yourself for the Governor’s new idea.
O’Malley announced his plan to add a 6 percent sales tax to gasoline. If passed, Maryland would have one of the highest gas taxes in the nation. I believe this tax hike is a completely misguided attack on the middle class.
With the current retail price of gas at about $3.50 per gallon, the sales tax means an additional 21 cents on every gallon sold. This almost doubles the current gas tax of 23.5 cents. We know that fuel prices are likely to rise. As they do, the gas tax will keep increasing.
The majority of gas tax revenues are supposed to go to the Transportation Trust Fund, designated for highways. However, O’Malley and previous governors have repeatedly raided the Transportation Trust Fund to cover unrelated budget deficits. In 2010 alone, 370 million dollars were taken from the Transportation Trust Fund. Repairing highways and relieving congestion are very important, but can we trust the Administration to use the higher gas taxes for roads when they have failed to do so in the past?
Even though the majority of Marylanders drive to work, most of the gas tax money would pay for expense public transportation systems. Yet, only 7% of workers use mass transit. Public transportation systems serving Baltimore and Washington D.C. are inefficient and unprofitable. By law, they are supposed to be self-sustaining with fare box receipts, but they are not. If passed, the gas tax would benefit residents of urban areas more than the drivers who pay the higher taxes.
O’Malley calls his tax hike a “tough choice.” I think the real tough choice, the choice we should make is to learn to live within our means.
Nancy Jacobs
R-Harford/Cecil Counties
Owe”Mally is an Azzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz HOe
Owe Malley’s touch choice is BS. Raiding the Transportation Trust Fund at our expensive and then raising taxes again and again to pay for the up keep of roads is…well there are no words for this type of governing. I’ve lived in Maryland for about 28 years and am looking forward to moving to a more tax friendly state in the near future especially since we are near retirement.
We left Maryland in 1983 after living in Florida for a year where we paid no income tax. When returning to Maryland, we realized how bad the taxes were then, so we moved across the line to PA. Many Maryland retirees have moved here because they can still be close to their families but get away from the most liberal state in the country. We can still enjoy the things we like in Maryland because we are so close, but retirees pay no income tax on any of their retirement income, and there is no sales tax on clothing in PA. Our income tax is 3.08% which is a flat tax.
We do have fairly high property taxes, due to the schools, but with a Republican governor and Republican House and Senate, we hope that will change. Our governor is not increasing spending; he is cutting spending and is setting up requirements for those getting food stamps and also drug tests for those on welfare. So while O’Malley wants to increase spending in Maryland by one billion dollars, your neighbors to the north, Pennsylvania, and your neighbors to the south, Virginia, are cutting spending.
Maryland is such a small state that folks can move to the surrounding states such as PA, VA and DE which afford them a much lower cost of living.
Florida taxes tourism. That’s why you paid no income tax. Pennsylvania, and Virginia, have a completely different geography and population density than Maryland. The roads are more numerous, the population is more concentrated and we surround the Chesapeake Bay, while Pennsylvania merely feeds into it. Maryland has taken on responsibilities that other states do not. While you may enjoy the low tax rate of Pennsylvania and previously enjoyed the low tax rate in Florida – your services and obligations were being paid for by people other than you. That’s the great tax lie – why raise your taxes at all if you can pass the cost onto someone else?
so sad to see all the taxaholic that try to say they hAVE THE CITIZEN OF MARYYLAND BEST INTEREST AT HEART. THEY JUST KEEP SHITING DOWN OUR THROATS. I JUST WONDER WHEN THE GOOD PEOPLE OF MARYLAND WILL STOP PUTTING UP WITH THIS BS. A GOOD MAN ONCE SAID THE POLITICIANS ARE A MIRROR REFLECTION OF THE PEOPLE THAT THEY REPRESENT. SO SAD THAT WE CITIZEN CAN NEVER GET IT RIGHT. WE JUST KEEP TAKING IT UP THE ASS.
So eloquent. Did the Capslock go on after you spilled your beer?
The Senator asks: “Repairing highways and relieving congestion are very important, but can we trust the Administration to use the higher gas taxes for roads when they have failed to do so in the past?”
Answer: Uh, no! Just another point illustrating Owe’Malley’s failure as governor. Exactly who was stupid enough to vote for that clown in the first place, and then compounded that stupid decision to give him a second term? Really. Unbelievable.
In response to LocalGuy…….”Must have been a “Dumbacrat”.
DON’T FORGET!! One the most ridiculous statements he has continued to use is the old “It’s NOT A tax, IT’S just a “Fee” “!
$$$ out of my family’s pocket either way!
O’Malley hasn’t cut the budget one dime since he took office. The budget has been inreased every year. Every year. I hear him on the radio saying that his approach in past years has been to cut, cut, cut but now he needs to raise taxes. He has already raised taxes and he hasn’t cut. Maryland’s budget has increased year-over-year every year he has been in office.
In a way I don’t blame him for saying it. He is a Dem/Lib politician and when he speaks a lie he is conversing in his native tongue. Most of his supporters believe it and if a lie continues to work on them then why not continue to use it? The lie doesn’t work on me.