Governor should stop scare tactics

Editorial, Carroll County Times

October 26, 2007

Gov. Martin O'Malley should listen to his own Comptroller instead of trying to scare people into going along with his budget proposals.

The Governor on Tuesday ran through a laundry list of ways that residents would suffer if they didn't get behind his proposals. The list included everything from closing two police barracks to cuts in health care for the poor.

The doomsday ploy isn't a new tactic.

Even here in Carroll under past administrations we have seen similar tactics. The most memorable occurred between the school system and the county, with school officials claiming everything from band to advanced placement classes would have to be cut if it did not get the money it asked for. The county has used the ploy as well, threatening to reduce library hours or end other programs unless people went along with tax increases.

Luckily we have gotten beyond those tactics here. The budgeting process isn't perfect, but at least everyone works together to accomplish the most with a limited negative impact on taxpayers.

O'Malley needs to listen to his own Comptroller, Peter Franchot, who criticized O'Malley's proposals and the way the Governor was rolling them out. The picture isn't as bleak as the Governor is painting, and Franchot says a more deliberative process of moving addressing issues and resolving the budget problems would be better.

Residents seem to agree. In a Gonzales Poll released Wednesday, only 10 percent think the budget deficit is the most important issue.

While more than half (60 percent) said they think a special session is a good idea, 63 percent oppose O'Malley's proposal to increase the sales tax to 6 percent.

We need to take a long hard look at state spending, which is usually done during the legislative session, and we need to look at revenues and expenses together in order to find the best ways to move forward.

O'Malley shouldn't try to bypass the process to push through tax increases, and he shouldn't use scare tactics to try and gain support for his plan.