There’s a method to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s apparent political madness in pressuring the General Assembly to slap a new 6 cent sales tax on each gallon of gasoline sold in Maryland. Like a shady, fast-talking used car salesman, time is his enemy. O’Malley needs a gas tax hike passed now (before the average price of gasoline, already at $3.83 per gallon, soars to $4.25 or more by the end of May) because he needs money to spend on mass transit to reward his environmental and union supporters.

O’Malley defended his proposed raid on the pocketbooks of Maryland drivers before legislative panels earlier this week, warning that the state cannot wait another minute to fix its crumbling roads and bridges. But this is the same governor who had no problem taking $1 billion from the Transportation Trust Fund — set up specifically to maintain Maryland’s roads and bridges — to pay for his non-transportation priorities.