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Published Material from Baltimore County Members

These views are not necessarily the views of the organization as a whole.

Maryland Democrats are working toward new taxes in the upcoming session, and the community needs to send a message to our representatives in the 11th District that we will no longer employ representatives who cannot be creative in finding new revenue sources, in lieu of taxes.

Currently, a proposal is on the agenda to increase HMOs 2 percent, which will affect more than 1 million citizens who are mostly poor or working class. In a time when we are trying to make insurance coverage affordable, our representatives want to put it out of reach of those who need it most.

They also want to override the governor's veto so they can tax corporations an additional 10 percent. The corporate answer will be very simple.

Do you want a higher price for goods or do you want layoffs? This attempt to tax corporations is an attempt to fund an unfunded mandate for higher education, similar to the problem created when Sen. Hollinger and her associates passed the Thornton education bill.

The solution is so simple a first grader could figure it out and it is called new revenue sources.

Maybe Sen. Hollinger could create a task force to study new funding sources or maybe she could listen to her constituents, who already know what she obviously doesn't

A new governor with new ideas equals new revenue sources, slots, slots, slots, and no more taxes.

J. Michael Collins
Reisterstown

Once again the state legislators of the Democrat Party want to tax the people they claim to look out for; the poor and the vulnerable. In the Special Session this week, they want to levy yet another tax to solve a problem. A two percent tax increase on an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) will force the HMO's to increase the premium to the consumer, It will also cause further tax increases to all taxpayers to pay for the increase in State Employee HMO coverage. Talk about double taxation!

Health Cost has grown by double-digits and this proposed tax by your Democrat Legislators will only send the cost higher.

Call your State Senator and Delegates. Tell them you pay enough for health care now. Don't let them sneak this through in the special session.

Herman Wood
Essex, MD

Sign enumerating war dead betrayal of soldiers' efforts

As I drove recently on Centennial Lane in Howard County, I noticed lights that I took to be Christmas decorations. I later learned that they were not lights in celebration of the season but a series of lighted numbers meant to signify the number of American casualties in the War on Terror.

As a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, I know only too well the morale-destroying and deleterious effect such displays have on troops in the field.

Certainly the owner of the sign must know that it will in no way alter the national strategy, of which the ongoing conflict is an integral part.

Is she or he insensitive to the anguish such a sign might arouse in the heart of a parent whose son or daughter is proudly serving our country? Does it not matter that troopers home on R&R might be disturbed to see such betrayal of their efforts by the very citizens they fight to protect?

The lust for notice must be so strong as to override consideration for the feelings of those who are actually contributing to the defense of this, the most wonderful country on Earth.

What were they thinking?

Harry J. F. Korrell Jr.

Don't let the Democrats sneak through a new tax

Once again the leaders of the Democratic Party are proving they have never met a tax that they didn't like. Their solution to the medical malpractice issue is a proposed 2 percent tax increase on health maintenance organizations.

The party claiming to be the protectors of Maryland's poor and vulnerable are about to convince these same consumers that they need another tax.

When will the Democrats realize you can't tax a business? Businesses are accountable to stockholders, owners and employees to maintain jobs and income. Additional expenses such as a 2 percent premium tax will only be passed on to consumers, not absorbed by the HMO.

Employer health-care costs have grown by double-digits recently, and this tax will only add to the growing health-care cost problem. Thousands of state employees are insured through HMO plans, and these, too, will cost more.

This means consumers will have the joy of experiencing an increase in their own HMO premiums, plus the added experience of seeing the cost of state government escalate. After all, it is the taxpayer who is subsidizing the premiums for state employees.

Call your legislators and tell them you pay enough for health care now. Tell them that taxing HMOs is the same as directly increasing your health-care premiums.

Don't let them sneak this through in a special session.

Albert Nalley
Catonsville

Democrats mustn't block Ehrlich's spending controls

How dare the Democratic leaders consider a veto override on the 10 percent corporate tax? Gov. Ehrlich was elected to bring an end to out-of-control unfunded mandates in state spending. He has done that by vetoing costly and bad legislation such as House Bill 1188.

House Democrats would have you believe this is needed for higher education. They would have you believe that the governor has no plan. Nothing is further from the truth.

The governor's last budget included a $13 million increase in scholarships. He is investing $53 million to make higher education more available to needy students and working-class families. He is investing $810 million in capital funding in our four-year colleges. He has increased K-12 education funding a record $550 million in the two years since he assumed office.

Higher education accounts for $1.1 billion of the fiscal 2005 general fund, which is a full 10 percent.

Gov. Ehrlich is bringing years of unchecked fiscal spending back under control. In two years, he has created a financially sound track record. He knows part of financial soundness is vetoing bills that have no funding mechanisms.

Maryland citizens know that good government is economically sound and fiscally responsible. Democratic leaders believe we citizens want unfunded promises and increased tax burdens.

Sheila Faulstich
Arbutus,Baltimore County Republican Party

I was bemused to read County Executive Jim Smith's case for securing new money to refurbish and build schools (December 9).

It seems a bit odd, since Jim Smith does not seem to care about the crowded conditions in eastern Baltimore County. His Lobbyist Erin Fazazza, says it would be her number one task.

If Jim Smith gets the money he wants from Annapolis, will he finally listen to the community and help us build a new school?

Herman Wood
Essex, Md

Smith, not Ehrlich, responsible for gridlock on school funding

In the latest of his community updates ("Money for school construction should be priority in Annapolis," The Jeffersonian, Dec. 16), County Executive James Smith tries persuading his constituents that he cares about public schools, but that help from the state government is needed. He lashes out at the "big money special interests in Annapolis" who are supposedly mired in "gridlock" while our public schools suffer.

Perhaps County Executive Smith is trying out a night job as a magician. That might explain this smoke-and-mirrors letter designed to hide his miserable record on school improvements.

The biggest challenge facing Baltimore County is overcrowding. Even if the state government could finance 100 percent of the costs of a new high school, nothing could be built without the county's consent. The county executive wants you to believe that he cares about school improvements, yet he alone is blocking funding for a new high school.

The county executive claims the title of head of the Baltimore County Democratic Party. And what a record that party has achieved under James Smith's watch: crowded schools and a system that seems more responsive to developers than to kids and parents.

And this man has the nerve to imply that the "big money special interests in Annapolis" are the ones at fault?

Everyone knows the terrible fiscal problems that Gov. Robert Ehrlich inherited from his Democratic predecessor. If the governor cannot pay for more of the costs of a new high school, County Executive Smith will probably blame the governor for the impasse.

In fact, it was Gov. Ehrlich who has increased public school spending by $526 million, despite inheriting a $2 billion deficit, and invested $320 million in funding for new schools throughout Maryland.

In Baltimore County, Gov. Ehrlich appointed new members of the school board who are finally demanding action on a new school, and it was the county's 11 Republican legislators who have persistently urged the county executive to stop ignoring the problem.

The reality is that the only one offering "gridlock" on our schools is County Executive James Smith.

Melissa Mullahey
Baltimore

The Party Line (R)
Elections vindicate Republican positions

I had my thoughts and feelings verified on a few issues by the Nov. 4 elections.

I would assume the organized portion of the Democratic Party learned a few lessons also.

I have observed the Democratic Party losing its traditional base of voters for the past several years. Republicans, nationwide, are gaining and we are also gaining crossover voters right here in Baltimore County.

The reason for Republican Party gains in Baltimore County is twofold:
We have reached out and have been actively building coalitions since 1998. During that time, we were ignored and under the radar of the Democratic Party.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. In Baltimore County, the governor's win was due in large part to our active and organized outreach.

Once again, with the re-election of President Bush, we see that a Republican candidate gained votes since 2000. This is significant in that the total population of the county increased, as did total voter registration, but the disparity in registration between Republicans and Democrats remained basically the same.

Translation: For President Bush to jump from 43 percent in 2000 to 47 percent in 2004 means many more Democrats crossed over and voted for our Republican president.

Another observation concerns what happened nationally on special-interest issues.

The Democrats have become a party of special interests. These fragmented groups band together when they have power, but when they lose power (in the White House, the Senate and House and the Maryland governorship), they become disjointed.

This time, a special interest group cost the Democratic Party the presidency. In every state with a "gay marriage" issue on the ballot, the measure failed by large margins. Voters turned out en masse to record their opinions _ and while there, voted for President Bush.

The Democratic Party overlooked what the common man (of both parties apparently) sees as morality issues.

The Democrats learned voters see a difference between being tolerant and respectful of a neighbor's lifestyle and publicly approving it by committing it to law.

Our county Republican Party is diverse and open. We had Republicans of many different social beliefs and doctrines supporting President Bush. We have been appealing to Baltimore County voters to take a look at the Republican Party, and they are looking.

We see a trend, one that will easily re-elect Ehrlich in 2006.

Chris Cavey is chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Party.

I was very happy to read of Governor Ehrlich's $35 million package of road improvements for the eastern Baltimore County community. It was also good to read that all three of our Republican delegates-J.B. Jennings, Rick Impallaria, and Pat McDonough-supported these important projects.

As a longtime resident of the Essex area, I can remember our governors stopping by only when they needed our votes for the upcoming election. Bob Ehrlich has clearly not forgotten the families of eastern Baltimore County. $35 million is not a bad early Christmas present for our community!

Herman Wood
Essex, MD

Biased coverage distorts record of the governor

Two years into the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., you would think that the governor's refusal to speak to two Sun journalists is the greatest calamity facing the state ("Ehrlich resolute in ban on Sun journalists," Dec. 5).

Last I checked, The Sun was still carrying many stories about the Ehrlich administration, and there were dozens of reporters still speaking to Ehrlich administration officials. The public still receives the information it deserves about the successes and mistakes of this administration.

Regrettably, reporter David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker seemed to delight in covering only the latter.

They painted a picture of a hard-right administration with no accomplishments, focused only on legalizing slot machines and cutting services. The truth is much different.

In two years, Mr. Ehrlich has eliminated much of a $2 billion shortfall he inherited upon taking office. He has pumped hundreds of millions of new dollars into education and transportation.

Mr. Ehrlich signed into law an unprecedented plan to revive the Chesapeake Bay. Under his leadership, the state's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country.

These are significant achievements that impact far more Marylanders than the two Sun reporters being banished.

Chris Cavey
Upperco
The writer is chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Party.

In 1998, community leaders were shocked when the Baltimore County Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to protect three properties on Belair Road from demolition. The buildings were bulldozed for a shopping center parking lot and a Walgreens pharmacy.

Six years later, much has changed. The community can point to some real success in preserving our historic landmarks.

The Greater Perry Hall Community Alliance recently celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of the renovation of the Perry Hall Mansion. Anyone who has seen the Perry Hall Mansion should be proud of the job Baltimore County and its contractors did in repairing the outside of the building.

Our community can point to other successes, some large and some small. Camp Chapel and Francis Asbury churches, two of the oldest congregations in Baltimore County, were made historic landmarks. When Baltimore County named several new parks, attention was given to prominent elements of our history.

Finally, thanks to a law passed by the County Council in 2002, the Landmarks Preservation Commission is more reflective of the communities it represents. Each County Councilman now appoints one representative.

As an example, Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder recently named Norma Secoura to the vacant Sixth District seat. He not only crossed party lines with this appointment, but picked a top-notch community leader endorsed by the Baltimore County Historical Trust.

The people of northeast Baltimore County can be proud of the renewed focus on preserving our local history.

David Marks
Perry Hall

This page last updated January 11, 2005