First, let's note that Mr. O'Malley is a walking contradiction here---he spent the $1 billion surplus, then proposed $280 million in cuts to address a $1.5 billion deficit, all while essentially browbeating the comptroller into approving an inflated purchase price for a member of his transition team.
(Folks, from a reliable source that might as well be the horse's mouth itself, Comptroller Franchot actually believes the stuff he is saying and is probably more dangerous for it. For someone like Franchot, such an egregiously corrupt act on behalf of the state is actually wrong. O'Malley doesn't care because he keeps his machine going.)
Anyway, I just want to put House Speaker Busch's comment regarding the situation on the record, because I promise you this will come up later. So says he according to an article in The Capital:
The (budget) cuts will not effect any of the "essential services" government is supposed to deliver.
This may not sound important, but it goes against all of the prevailing rhetoric. As a result of the budget deficit, all of our fine elected officials warn of a DOOMSDAY BUDGET!!!! (emphasis mine), whereby if we don't raise taxes and cut services we will be no better than a caveman. I just want to show you that this is not true, and even the most liberal of leaders knows it.
