Is Anyone Surprised?

The Capital recently published an update regarding the tax hit that Marylanders will take next week, and shockingly, we are getting screwed:

(Note to readers: underlined italics signify sarcasm, an editing tactic that had to be used because tone of voice cannot be conveyed via this blog.)

Del. Steve Schuh, R-Gibson Island, sought to correct that by figuring out
how the total package will affect an average household making $64,300 a year.
The methodology was checked by both the state's non-partisan Department of
Legislative Services and free market economist John Lott, Jr., of the University
of Maryland, College Park.

The net result to the household will be $351 in additional taxes, according
to Mr. Schuh's study.

Under Mr. O'Malley's original plan, the family would have paid an
additional $290.

The Governor would have us believe that the worse-than-anticipated outcome was the result of the General Assembly making changes to his plan. The truth of the matter is much more maniacal. The special session, convened in the name of eliminating a structural deficit*, actually ADDED hundreds of millions of dollars in new health care spending--causing analysts to predict more deficits in the future.

(*There was not really a deficit, because there was no budget.)

Liberals like big government. The distinction between benevolent liberals who believe government can/should solve problems, and less altruistic liberals (or R's in some cases) who want to expand government to perpetuate their own hold of power, is rather meaningless. Expansion of government is generally bad, because the government has no competition, and consequently severely reduced accountability.