Cutting the Budget, or Smoke and Mirrors?

[palealeman]

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-budget-20170117-story.html

Gov. Hogan told legislative leaders that he's cutting spending. In reality, it looks like he's maintaining spending levels and using rainy day funds -- an Ehrlich trick -- to cover shortfalls.  Smoke and mirrors -- take from Peter to pay Paul. Is the rainy day fund -- mandated by law -- in trouble?

Interesting to note that the Gov is refusing to fund several mandates that, by law, must be funded. More interesting that those mandates seem to apply to Baltimore City only.

Comments? Discussion?

[rocketwolf]

Yeah like Omalleyman and Glendening never shuffled money from Peters account to Paul's and used smoke and mirrors to raid the rainy day fund AND the gas tax fund to spend on other things.
It was always Eastern Shore and Western MD's road building/repair funds the got shuffled first, ever wonder why that was?

[bobloblaw]

Because according to the late Willy Don "They're Sh*thouses".

[mmmbeer]

Cutting spending is almost always smoke & mirrors, IMHO. While popular in theory, its not popular in practice, with the voters OR the pols.
Nobody wants their pork cut. (Although it's not pork when it is for you, its only pork when it is for them; the other, undeserving them.)

[Evil Yoda]

It doesn't surprise me. That's how the government in this state has always worked. O'Malley had to increase the gas tax chiefly because he raided the highway fund, something that was both unethical and should have been illegal. I would imagine that we'll hear something similar near the end of Hogan's term, about a tax that has to increase because the rainy day fund is now depleted.

As for the city? It has a great many wealthy companies headquartered there. Pandora and Underarmor to name two. Let it collect more of its operating revenues from taxes of its own, rather than constantly coming to Maryland hat in hand.

[Ranger John]

Jan 18, 2017 10:24:04 GMT -5 Evil Yoda said:

It doesn't surprise me. That's how the government in this state has always worked. O'Malley had to increase the gas tax chiefly because he raided the highway fund, something that was both unethical and should have been illegal. I would imagine that we'll hear something similar near the end of Hogan's term, about a tax that has to increase because the rainy day fund is now depleted.

As for the city? It has a great many wealthy companies headquartered there. Pandora and Underarmor to name two. Let it collect more of its operating revenues from taxes of its own, rather than constantly coming to Maryland hat in hand.

I expect those companies pay almost no tax, because they threaten to leave if they did. Who would want their corporate HQ in Baltimore?

[Evil Yoda]

Jan 18, 2017 11:07:47 GMT -5 Ranger John said:

I expect those companies pay almost no tax, because they threaten to leave if they did. Who would want their corporate HQ in Baltimore?

Apparently Pandora did - they actually moved it there. Yeah, I don't know why, either, unless it's as you said. Nevertheless, municipalities are probably better off not cutting those kinds of deals, or at least making them contingent on the creation of a certain amount of city revenue in the form of taxes collected from employees; ie. the employer would have to make up the balance if it didn't employ enough tax-generating locals. A city doesn't want a company that won't sign such an agreement as a corporate citizen, because it's costing them rather than earning for them.

[rocketwolf]

Jan 17, 2017 22:33:23 GMT -5 bobloblaw said:

Because according to the late Willy Don "They're Sh*thouses".

Yes they are treated as such, yet you want us to believe Demo BS and vote for those Annapolis arse holes.

Good luck on that.