State's bet on tax increases didn't pay off

Published 12/07/08

In the 1987 movie "The Princess Bride," the smug mastermind Vizzini, memorably played by Wallace Shawn, invokes "the classic blunders": "Never get involved in a land war in Asia … (and) never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

Having just swallowed poisoned wine, he drops dead before he can mention classic blunder No. 3: Never raise the sales tax when the economy is about to go into the worst recession in 70 years.

It's a pity he didn't get that far. He might have saved Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly a lot of trouble.

But perhaps not....

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What?s the point? - December 8, 2008

This editorial doesn't really get to it until near the end when it talks about what damage the tax increase has done to the retail sector. I?m no fan of tax increases but my bet is that the only affect a one percent increase has had on the Maryland economy is to keep the state budget from being in a deeper hole. You finally admit that the national economy isn?t controlled by Annapolis. So where is your proof that this one percent increase is making the state?s budget worse? I?d really like to know if that?s the case. You seem to act like it?s a given. But who even thinks about the sales tax? Even if I were going to buy a new $2,000 TV that tax difference is $20. Is that $20 going to stop me from buying the TV? I don?t think so. Next time offer a more compelling argument. This just reads like you?re trying to fill space.

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Nils Pedersen - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral