MD Races to Bottom on Jobs, Gov Dodgy on Asia Costs
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June 23, 2011
Maryland Ranks Last in the Nation in Job Creation
New job numbers released last week paint a pretty grim picture of Maryland’s economy. The Baltimore Sun reported that over the past year, Maryland has lost 1% of its job base which comes to about 20,000 jobs, putting us last in the nation in job creation. While this news is troubling it is not so surprising.
While Maryland continues to raise taxes and increase regulations that make doing business in our state a headache, surrounding states do all they can to be friendly to businesses and lure them away from burdensome Maryland. With the climbing taxes for individuals it will not be surprising if those residents who find work out of state also find residence out of state eventually when they notice that their out-of-state co-workers are keeping more of their paychecks in their pockets than Marylanders are.
The General Assembly could have helped Maryland’s job outlook a great deal had they not missed the bus on Marcellus Shale. We hate to say “we told you so,” but there are plenty of jobs available in the parts of Pennsylvania where fracking is occurring. In fact there are parts of Pennsylvania that have more jobs in the Marcellus Shale industry than people to fill them. If the General Assembly had voted to allow drilling the plentiful Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland, there could be a very different job situation in our state and we might not be coming in last in a race we could be winning.
Maryland’s race to the bottom in job creation will only get worse when the sales tax increase on alcohol goes into effect on July 1st. The restaurant and entertainment industries who are already struggling in this economy will be taking another hit when this tax becomes effective.
The Democrat Majority in the General Assembly consistently enables the O’Malley Administration’s insatiable appetite for spending by pirating the pockets of businesses through higher taxes and fees. It should come as no surprise that their business rankings from the bipartisan group Maryland Businesses for Responsive Government have plummeted right along with the job numbers. With Special Session coming in the fall with the potential for even more taxes, don’t expect either number to get better any time soon
Governor’s Office Releases Cost of Asia Trip. Sort of.
In response to queries from House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell and Minority Whip Jeannie Haddaway, DBED issued the expense report for the Governor’s trip to Asia late Friday afternoon. However, the report’s release leaves us with more questions than answers.
One curious tidbit in the report is only five people are accounted for but the taxpayers paid for a 6th hotel room. No details as to what this additional room was used for. Also, ever heard of double occupancy? Couldn’t a few of these guys have bunked together? According to the report the total mission expenses were $144,086. This does not include the costs of the Governor’s security detail. Those numbers are to be released at a later date.
The most concerning aspect of this report is that it only accounts for 5 of the 27 members whose participation was a function of their offices or employment in Maryland’s government. The only expenses in the report were for those of Governor O’Malley, Governor’s Office Director Sam Clark; Director of Ethnic Commissions David Lee; DBED Secretary Christian Johansson and DBED Asia Regional Manager Brad Gillenwater. Not included in the report were:
John McDonough, Maryland Secretary of State
Edward Chow, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs
Guy Guzzone, Maryland House of Delegates
Susan Lee, Maryland House of Delegates
Harold Adams, Governors International Advisory Council
Kwang Choi, Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs
Chung Pak, Maryland Higher Education Commission
John Young, University System of Maryland
Jonathan Wakefield, University of Maryland College Park
Menzhong Shang, University of Maryland College Park
David Barbe, University of Maryland College Park
Donald Kettl, University of Maryland College Park
Wallace Loh, University of Maryland College Park
Brian Darmody, University of Maryland College Park
Kai Duh, University of Maryland College Park
Saul Sosnowski, University of Maryland College Park
James Hughes, University of Maryland Baltimore
Jay Perman, University of Maryland Baltimore
Peter Hu, R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma
Clay Hickson, Towson University
Steve Phillips, Towson University
Marcia Welsh, Towson University
It is possible these people traveled on their own dime, but the Governor’s Office has an obligation to the people to detail how this entire trip was funded. Otherwise, it appears as though there is something to hide.
Petitioners near deadline
Participants in the petition drive have been working hard, and it looks like their efforts will pay off. Already the Board of Elections has validated over half of the number of signatures needed to get this issue on the ballot! Organizers of the effort are hoping to be able to turn in enough signatures on June 30 so that there will be no chance of failure. With only ten days left until the final deadline for the petition, the time to sign is now if you haven’t already! Visit www.mdpetitions.org today to download and sign the petition if you think it’s important to let the voters decide whether we should give in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants.
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