Liberal pundits are tripping all over themselves to praise the “courage” of lame-duck Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley for his attempt to yet again raise taxes in Maryland. In addition to doubling the “flush tax,” O’Malley wants to raise $600 million annually by slapping a 21-cent sales tax on each gallon of gasoline — in addition to the state’s current 23.5-cent gas tax and the 18.4 cents per gallon the federal government collects. Although this regressive sales tax allegedly would mostly close a gaping $1.1 billion budget hole caused by O’Malley’s reckless overspending, it would be at the expense of Marylanders least able to afford it.
O’Malley told the General Assembly that raising the gas tax by 64 percent is needed to reduce traffic congestion. But in a study for the Maryland Public Policy Institute, transportation experts Wendell Cox and Ron Utt point out that Maryland is currently spending 54 percent of all available transportation funding on mass transit, which also received 95 percent of the $500 million increase in transportation spending between 2003 and 2012.
