Maryland Legislature: time for a change

Maryland Legislature: time for a change

 

Maryland’s legislators may have not received the memo: there is a new sheriff in town. Larry Hogan became the Governor because people are sick and tired of being taxed into oblivion. Legislative leadership has firmly come out against Hogan’s mild proposals to trim taxes in a variety of areas. Before Hogan would finish his State of the State message consternation was already brewing on the new Governor’s programs to help businesses. Hogan enumerated a list of changes he wants the Maryland Legislature to consider. His proposal to exempt the first $10,000 of personal property from taxes would go a long way to help small businesses. Elimination of the “Rain Tax,” which targets only a portion of Maryland, was also echoed in his speech. Automatic increases in gasoline taxes would come to a thundering halt because Hogan portrays them as regressive assessments. Pensions for military, police and fire fighters would become exempt from tax collection by the Comptroller’s office. House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas Miller are in a near schizophrenic frenzy over Hogan’s tax proposals. Just the thought of reducing Maryland’s tax burden on its citizens brought verbal backlashes from both of them. What these two do not understand is Marylanders who pay the bills want change. Hogan has chosen not to cut too deeply for his first State budget. Instead he began by cutting around the edges. Maryland’s nickname, The Free State, has taken on new meaning around the country. Why? People have come by the tens of thousands to obtain freebies allocated to them by the Democrats and Hogan’s predecessor Martin O’Malley. Billions in waste could be cut from the Maryland budget. Hogan is fully cognizant of the economic Armageddon that would occur if he cut too quickly. Yet this must happen for Maryland to stay sound economically. The Mercedes Benz gang with Medicaid cards should watch their backs. The new sheriff is gunning for you.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Writing Services, www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

A Bill to End All Activities Beyond Breathing in Motor Vehicles

Today it’s Texas. Tomorrow it could be your state.

Up before the Texas state legislature is another draconian bill designed to eliminate the “inattentive operation” of a motor vehicle. Well actually, the bill is designed to up the fines for accidents to at least twice the minimum fine applicable to any driving offense if “inattentive” behaviors are involved in the offense.

The bill lists a multitude of “inattentive’ behaviors including the consumption of food or beverage, tuning a radio, and even interacting with a passenger. Of course every imaginable behavior that could be deemed as “inattentive” couldn’t be included or the bill would have run on for hundreds of pages, so the sponsor added this little phrase to cover all bases: “engaging in another activity that prevents the operator from safely operating the motor vehicle.”

Since this bill makes every imaginable behavior beyond the act of breathing an “inattentive behavior” wouldn’t the sponsor have been more honest to simply write a bill that doubles all driving fines for offenses of reckless driving laws currently in effect?

Some say that this bill, if passed into law, would be unenforceable, but they are wrong. The police are not going to stop you just because they see you sipping your morning cup of Jo, but if you commit any minor driving violation with even an empty cup of coffee in your cup holder, you will get a double fine. Eventually you will either leave home without your coffee or you will be sure to dump the evidence at your first convenience. The unintended consequences – sleepy drivers and more highway litter!

What would be the point of sponsoring this bill? Perhaps the sponsor just wanted fifteen minutes of fame? Or perhaps this is one of many bills designed to test the waters? Getting people used to accepting seemingly ludicrous or unenforceable laws is a good Orwellian plan. Loading up state legislatures with repressive bills is a kind of socialist lottery. Eventually enough inattentive voters will discover that their own state legislatures actually passed such a bill and then other states will easily fall.

I first heard about this bill on Thursday night when our local TV stations were all a buzz and actually making fun of the bill. None of the news broadcasts mentioned the name or number of the bill or its sponsor.

Naturally, I began to ponder this question: “Who would sponsor such a bill?” My first thought was that it had to be sponsored by a National Socialist (NAZI) hell-bent on dishonest social engineering and someone who actually believes that more government regulation is the answer to all human problems.

I wouldn’t want poor Rep. Chente Quintanilla, Democrat, of El Paso, Texas to be disappointed that his name failed to get mentioned in many of the news broadcasts the other night. Let me give him the fame his bill, 81(R) HB 738, deserves!

If you are a Texan please be sure to drop your state representative a little note about this bill. Tell your representative to “Let it die!!!” If you live in another state check out the bills up before your state legislature today.

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