Sen. Jennings: “A Day in the Life of a Typical Marylander, Thanks to the O’Malley/Brown Administration”

From Sen. J.B. Jennings;

Tuesday is Election Day. This is a day that Marylanders get to choose who they want to lead this state for the next 4 years from the Governor’s Office. Before you cast your vote, I ask you to think “are we better today than we were 8 years ago?” None of us should forget that from the time we wake up in the morning until we go to sleep at night, there are numerous ways that every one of us feels the bite of the O’Malley/Brown Administration’s tax and spend approach to government.

Let’s look at the every day life of a typical Marylander, thanks to the O’Malley/Brown Administration:

It’s early morning and the sun is beginning to rise over Maryland. Suddenly, the silence is broken with the screeching of your alarm clock. You reach over in the dark trying to silence the alarm, but your hand fumbles around your night-stand until you finally find it. You decide to hit the snooze button and get an extra 8 minutes of much needed sleep. Just as you drift back to sleep, the alarm clock goes off a second time; it’s time to get up. You sit up, turn off the alarm, and head into the bathroom.

It is here that the first specter of the O’Malley/Brown Administration’s tax policy hits you. As you flush the toilet you are reminded that your flush tax that used to be $30 has doubled and is now $60. You continue your morning routine: take a shower, brush your teeth, and eventually make it back into the bedroom. As you start to get dressed, you turn on the TV to catch-up on the day’s news. The meteorologist on your favorite news channel lets you know that there is a 60% chance of rain today. Although it’s only a 60% chance of rain, you have a 100% chance of having to pay the Rain Tax. Yes, that’s right, a tax on rain.

Into the kitchen you go for a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat. You glance at your watch to make sure you’re not running late. You know that if you don’t leave the house at the right time you’ll be stuck in traffic. Instead of your commute to work taking 20 minutes, a 5 minute delay in your departure from home will make it a 45 minute drive. You give your spouse and children a kiss and out the door you go. As you’re running out of the house your spouse reminds you that the two of you have dinner with friends tonight at your favorite restaurant.

As you pull out of the driveway and head to work you remember that you need to meet with your accountant to begin preparing for your taxes. This is due to the income tax increase championed by the O’Malley/Brown Administration. Your income tax has been increased by one-quarter to three-quarters of 1% and your personal exemptions have been decreased from $2,400 to $1,600.

Moments later your car’s low fuel light comes on and you pull into the next gas station. As you start to fill your tank you watch the pump and see the dollars start to add up. You realize this tank of gas is more expensive than before because of the successful initiative of the O’Malley/Brown Administration to increase the gas tax. Your commute to work requires you to take the tunnel. As you approach the toll booth you realize tolls on bridges and tunnels that were once $2 are now $4.

You eventually make it into work. After putting in a long morning of hard work, it’s lunchtime. To economize, after paying nearly $2 extra for gas and an additional $2 in tolls, you bring your lunch. After you eat a solitary lunch at your desk, you look at your watch and realize you still have 15 minutes left on your lunch break. So you decide to pay some of your bills. You grab your checkbook and start reviewing your bills.

You open your electric bill and see that there is an additional $24 annual surcharge. This surcharge is to subsidize the O’Malley/Brown Administration’s offshore wind farm that is intended to be built near Ocean City, but that is still years away from being started.

The end of the work day finally arrives. Back into the car you go. As you head home you ride over crumbling local roads dotted with pot holes because the O’Malley/Brown Administration has taken $1.1 billion from the local road funds. These pot holes are causing untold damage to your car that you will have to pay to get fixed.

You decide to stop at the mall to get a gift for the birth of your new nephew. You pick out a plush teddy bear stuffed animal and an “I’ve Got The World’s Greatest Aunt & Uncle” t-shirt for the little guy. As you head to the cash register you realize that the O’Malley/Brown Administration strikes again. They have increased the state’s sales tax from 5% to 6%. So, you pay a sales tax of $1.80 on your $30 gift.

You get home, take the gifts inside and change for dinner. The babysitter arrives, you give your children a kiss and back out the door you go. On the drive to dinner your spouse reminds you that the car registration is due at the end of the month. Thanks to the O’Malley/Brown Administration you vehicle registration fee has been increased too.

You arrive at the restaurant and are seated with your friends. They ask how your newborn nephew is doing, and as any proud relative would, you start showing them pictures. During the conversation you let them know that while at the hospital visiting the new bundle of joy you saw a sign in the hospital’s Birthing Suites that Governor O’Malley and Lt. Governor Brown have doubled the cost of the birth certificate.

After a great meal, wine, and good conversation, the waiter brings the check to the table. You pull out your credit card and review the check. Turns out, those glasses of wine cost an additional 3% since the last time you all had dinner together. Turns out, the O’Malley/Brown Administration increased the price of beer, wine and liquor from 6% to a 9% sales tax on all alcohol.

You finally get home and settle in for the night. As you are lying in bed trying to fall asleep you start to realize how much more your day cost because of the O’Malley/Brown Administration. You then realize that tomorrow is Election Day and you have a choice of whom to elect Governor. Do you vote for Anthony Brown, the person who helped bring you all those wonderful taxes and fee increases? These taxes and fees result in $4,000 per year accruing to the government coffers rather than in your savings account. Or do you vote for Larry Hogan? Larry Hogan promises to control state spending so that taxes won’t be increased, and with some cooperation from the General Assembly Maryland can finally have a conversation about reducing the tax burden on its residents.

As you slowly drift off to sleep the current situation in Maryland is on your mind: jobs are scarce, the economy is stalled, and people are taxed so heavily that they cannot spend as freely as they once did. You have a big decision to make tomorrow.

Good night and sleep tight,

Senator J.B. Jennings