Attorney General Doug Gansler ? erudite, handsome, articulate ? thinks he knows best what we need to know about the outrageous $1.3 billion in new taxes levied by the Annapolis gang and our presidential wannabe, Gov. Martin O?Malley.
The AG who claims prosecuting polluters is his top priority has instead marshaled his lawyerly forces in recent weeks to repeatedly attempt to block testimony from a public employee whose knowledge could damage Democrats.
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He claims deposing Mary Monahan, keeper of House of Delegates records for the people of Maryland, should be protected by legislative privilege.
Huh? Isn?t she a public employee, not an elected representative? Besides, aren?t legislative proceedings public record? What new privileges is he trying to invent? You don?t have to be a lawyer to smell bull exhaust.
The Maryland Special Court of Appeals and the state?s highest court, the Court of Appeals, didn?t buy his argument either. They rejected it, paving the way for attorneys for the GOP who have filed suit to block the tax hikes to depose her later this week.
Republicans claim the House did not consent to an extended adjournment by the Senate during the special session as required by the state constitution. Lawyers for Republicans filed a second motion to block the taxes, which include raising the sales tax from 5 to 6 percent and increasing vehicle titling taxes from 5 to 6 percent, from taking effect until the suit is decided, but were denied Monday.
Republicans have a right to be heard in full just as we the people deserve to know what really happened during the special session. Gansler?s repeated attemptsto block Monahan?s testimony at the very least give the impression that Democrats have something to hide. We deserve better from Gansler, the man charged with enforcing the state?s freedom of information laws.
We also deserve a full hearing of the tax hikes, which did not happen in the abbreviated special session. No clause in the Maryland Constitution says it should be easy for state legislators to siphon money from those they are supposed to represent. Gansler, more than anyone as the state?s chief lawyer, should know that.
