Editor's Desk:Budget battles bring us the war of the phrase-makers

By TOM MARQUARDT

Published 05/25/08

I love reading history books that shed light on what's happening today - books like my current reading material, "White House Ghosts" by Robert Schlesinger.

Written by the son of the late historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the book is about the ghostwriters whose prose could make or break presidents. Many of their names were unknown to the public, but often presidents would recruit eminent writers, from John Steinbeck to William Safire, to tone up their speeches.

President Nixon, a great debater, always complained that his own writers were too dull. He picked up the pen himself in a desperate attempt to...

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Pogo stick - May 26, 2008

For those that believe the school system is a Chrysler I encourage them to visit the many facilities that are in dire shape bordering on unsafe. It astounds me that many assume that the school budget is anything but a qualified superintendent's honest proposal designed to improve education, comply with the law (is there anyone who suggests he should do otherwise?) & correct years of acknowledged under funding of the capital budget. Those who protest too much would not stand for such conditions for their own homes, or cars even if a Kia. There seems to be resentment against the school system because it requires so much of the county's funding. It is what it is. It is the largest county employer (& don't assume that means bloated, just compare it to other better rated county systems in MD & see public education requires resources) The school system is responsible for complying with ever more rigorous requirements & failure to do so comes at a significant price. It is responsible for maintenance of a lot of real estate in the county. It is what it is. Resentment won't change that & it shouldn't be changed except to improve the situation. As Dr. Maxwell says - this is the 5th richest county in the 5th richest state in the richest country in the world. Yet our local income tax rate is 22nd out of 24 jurisdictions in MD. There is the greatest opportunity to raise necessary revenue. If we pay higher local income tax we will be deduct it on our federal tax returns thereby keeping our tax money local. Why has everyone seemed to miss this point? We can fuss about the real estate tax cap all we want but the county council & the county executive have failed to raise the revenue necessary to provide the citizens of AA County what they deserve, including the children who rely on the school system to prepare them for a productive adulthood & the businesses of AACounty who rely on it to provide capable workers. Failure to do so will have consequences that we ought to avoid.

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L F. - Severna Park, MD - Karma: Bad