The Mercatus Center at George Mason University released the latest version of its Freedom in the 50 States report. The report ranks the states according to “public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres.”
Maryland ranked 43rd overall, 28th for economic freedom and 50th in personal freedom.
MarylandReporter.com noted that Maryland progressives were not all that happy about the rankings of the state they own.
“There’s nothing better for freedom than being alive,” DeMarco said.
Rion Dennis, executive director of Progressive Maryland, said that the things the study says Maryland is doing wrong have actually done very well for the people of the state.“You can put together a compendium of any number of things and say what freedom is,” he said. “Here in Maryland, we enjoy a prosperity from all of those rules and regulations that were put in place.”
Give DeMarco credit for chutzpah for citing the tobacco tax given he was a key ally to tobacco giant Phillip Morris in passing the “Marlboro Monopoly Act of 2009.”
To what prosperity is Dennis referring? Maryland ranks 49th in job growth, creating only 500 jobs in the last year, and shed over 91,000 jobs since the progressive’s preferred governor took office in 2007. Perhaps Dennis defines prosperity as the need for a 56 percent property tax hike to foot the bill for the state’s unsustainable spending and debt?
For progressives, freedom is defined as higher taxes, more regulation, and their belief that they—through power of the state—should decide what is best for you.
