Patrick McGrady on Proposed Tax Increases
Former candidate for House of Delegates District 34A addresses hot topic
To send a letter to the editor, e-mail editor Sean Welsh at sean.welsh@patch.com
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The following is a letter to the editor from Aberdeen's Patrick McGrady, a member of the Harford County Republican Central Committee and a former candidate for House of Delegates District 34A:
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The Maryland General Assembly is contemplating a tax increase on the fuel that working families use to get to and from work and to the grocery store.
Currently, the Maryland tax on gasoline is 26.5 cents per gallon of fuel. The proposal that the leading Democrats in Annapolis—Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Mike Busch—support is an approximate 38 percent increase to 36.5 cents per gallon. This tax will suck another $250 million out of our wallets every year.
Do the Delegates that write these bills really think that they can get the economy going again by raising taxes? Maryland working families already suffer from record unemployment. Any additional costs for conducting business in Maryland will surely result in cost-cutting elsewhere—and that will probably mean more layoffs.
The Politicians say that this tax will be “reserved for transportation projects” (“Trust me, this time for real”). Since last year’s budget alone, more than a quarter of a billion dollars has been hijacked from the transportation fund. Now they want Maryland working families to pay for their incompetence at the pump. Our families shouldn’t have to pay for greedy politicians in Annapolis who can’t balance their budget; they should cut their budget before digging into our pocketbooks.
Patrick McGrady
Aberdeen, MD
George Helm
8:27 pm on Saturday, February 26, 2011
Hotel tax, liquor tax, and a gasoline tax! All our politicians know nothing about cutting expenses all they want to do is raise taxes. Our locals, county, state, all seem to take a que from Washington, raise fees and taxes! I know my property tax goes up every year, without fail, either by assessment or tax, even when home values fall! I'm a retired person and on social security and I'm losing about 3 to 5 percent of my income per year due to these increases. I bass fish and when I tow my boat to Northeast from Havre De Grace on 95 the toll is 23.00, unbelievable! This state is bonkers, and as long as we have a one party system nothing will change!
larry hawkins
1:01 pm on Sunday, February 27, 2011
when do the polititions take a pay cut as all residents have,either no pay raise, all expences going up, no increase in ss benifits,no cost of livivg increase,,,, what about the fact that they pay no ss for a retirement that is lifetime built in for them.... if they would help the same as we do then a lot of the problem could be solved..and they say they can't balance the budget hhmmmm i wounder why?????????
Bugman
9:57 am on Monday, February 28, 2011
As usual Patrick, you're right on the button with your observation.
Sharon Duncan
2:12 pm on Monday, February 28, 2011
Hang in there with your fight Patrick. You are right on the mark with your observations. If the tax raise this time around is "reserved for Transportation Projects" I wonder if we will really get any more potholes fixed than before. Our government has a deadly ponzi scheme going with our tax dollars. At some point we just have to say STOP. Enough is enough.
Jason Falkenstine
8:32 am on Friday, March 4, 2011
Interesting...I've heard this term 'Ponzi Scheme' many times in the last two weeks when referring to government (both Federal and State). The first I read about it was an interview with Bernie Madoff last week, referring to Social Security and Federal Government as the ultimate Ponzi Scheme that he basically molded his own Ponzi Scheme after.
You are dead-on correct!