In Maryland, the wealthy corporate executive pays the same income tax rate as the people who clean his office, a fact Gov. Martin O?Malley often bemoans.

Anyone earning $7,500 a year pays the same flat rate as the person making $750,000 per year ? a flat 7.5 percent to 8 percent depending on the local piggyback tax. That?s why Maryland income taxes are the third-highest in the country. These rates also generate almost a quarter of all state revenues.