Martin O'Malley's final assault on Maryland businesses

Martin O’Malley’s final assault on Maryland businesses

 

Maryland’s Governor O’Malley has proposed to raise the minimum wage from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour, in three phases, over the next two years. His proposal also consists of automatic increases to keep pace with inflation. Martin O’Malley’s intention to extort funds from private businesses is not new. From the day he became the state’s Chief Executive Officer his desire was clearly to destroy the business community. Under his tutelage dozens of taxes, fees and outright levies have increased with the burden ending up on the heads of those who generate the majority of state funds, our businesses. His latest gambit to increase the minimum wage is fraught with landmines that he and his minions may not have considered. As the so-called minimum wage increases matching Medicare and Social Security taxes increase, as well as unemployment taxes and workers compensation reimbursements. Worse, O’Malley’s proposal robs more funds from business budgets by automatically forcing them to raise wages based on the quasi formula which establishes inflationary trends. The Governor’s irrational train of thought never takes into account the stresses businesses have to stay afloat. His excuse that 21 other states have higher minimums is a ruse to create the illusion the raise is justifiable. Of these 21 most are a few percentage points elevated over Maryland’s present 7.25 hourly rate. Twenty-nine other states’ rates are at or below Maryland’s. During one of the Governor’s diatribes he noted the unfairness of the minimum wage structure which impedes a worker from supporting his/her family. Entry level jobs, paying minimum wage, were never designed to support a family. Maneuvering state legislatures to manage their entitlements by drawing funds from the private sector is a ploy by the left to keep the gravy flowing to their constituents. In a recent gathering of elected officials concerning the minimum wage Douglas Gansler, Maryland’s retiring Attorney General, displayed his usual enthusiasm to stick it to the business community. Unfortunately, the next Governor Anthony Brown is also onboard with O’Malley’s intended folly. Governor O’Malley’s agenda closely parallels that of our President, neither one cares about the ramifications their insults bring to society only the votes they garner in an election. Raising the minimum wage brings the danger of pushing more businesses to the edge, resulting in less jobs available to entry level workers. Worse, the change in wage structure will accelerate the exodus of businesses leaving the state. In the waning days of Governor O’Malley’s reign he intends to do as much destruction to the Maryland economy as possible. Perhaps there are a few decent legislators left in Annapolis who have the sense and sensibility to impede O’Malley’s last financial fiasco. If not the jobless rate will grow exponentially adding further burden to an entitlement structure already seeing red.

 

Mark Davis, MD author of the book lawyers hate Demons of Democracy and the recently released book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster.

platomd@gmail.com www.healthnetsreviewservices.com

O'Malley's assault on Maryland: is recall in the air

O’Malley’s assault on Maryland: is recall in the air

 

Starving to move up the food chain, Governor Martin O’Malley has wrought worse havoc on the State of Maryland than Obama has on nation. O’Malley’s legislative initiatives have infuriated many members of the business community, some of whom have voiced recalling the Governor for ineptitude in office. O’Malley’s push for wind farms off the coast of Ocean City, displays a profound level of incompetence on his part (see article, Maryland’s Solyndra: offshore wind farms). In his latest legislative intent, which he blames on the EPA, a rain tax is to be levied on properties in selective counties. Both business and private residences are involved in his latest folly. The sheer magnitude of the levies could amount to billions in new revenues to the state, while forcing the owners of these properties to move or into bankruptcy. In discussions with dozens of business owners, a common sentiment emerged: O’Malley’s initiatives are hurting the business community to an extent unheard of, even in this very blue state. Furthering his left-wing agenda, by making gun possession more difficult and easing up on punishment for victimizers, strengthens the basis for a recall vote. Many residents may have forgotten that our overreaching Governor went to Wisconsin in 2012 to help recall Governor Scott Walker. His efforts were for naught. Governor Walker won and O’Malley’s crew lost miserably. During O’Malley’s tenure the business community has had an net egress from the state. Maryland is consistently voted as having one of the worst business environments in the country. Cash flow for entitlements has diminished from the feds, no problem for O’Malley. His devious new set of levies will be diverted, as usual, from the intended purpose, to his entitlement base. Perhaps you have not been one of Maryland’s dozens of entitlement offices lately.  Those receiving state aid are living very well off the backs of those who are employed, as reflected in the high end cars parked nearby. These people are O’Malley’s base. He hopes they will propel him into a higher office, unless the gravy train stops. How many more taxes, levies, fees, assessments edicts etc. will state residents allow thrust on them before the recall petitions start rolling out to throw the Governor from office. From this perch, the tipping point has past. Mark Davis MD, President of Healthnets Review Services, www.healthnetsreviewservices.com, platomd@gmail.com, Author of the book Demons of Democracy and the forthcoming book, Obamacare, Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster. Anyone interested in debating these issues with this author, please contact me.

Wind Energy: Maryland's next fiasco

Wind energy: Maryland’s next fiasco

 

Governor O’Malley is hot to dump hundreds of millions into wind technologies, which are neither perfected nor economical. His green agenda will only generate red in the event the state of Maryland moves forward with this folly. The proposed project entails building floating wind generating stations miles off the coast of Ocean City Maryland. Estimates from O’Malley’s crack team of experts believe this project would eventually extract up to 200 megawatts of power from the wind when these devices are fully functional. Wind energy is unreliable, costs to generate one megawatt of power are staggering and the infrastructure to get such a leviathan project off the ground will cost billions not hundreds of millions as suggested by the Governor. The best manner in which to view this project: think of a Solyndra on steroids. There exists an enormous bulk of literature on wind technologies displaying its impracticality for use in large populated areas. Maryland’s Executive branch is selling this folly to the State legislature and the General Public with creative accounting techniques. Ratepayers will be requested to fork out an estimated $1.50 per month, if you can suspend disbelief while you consider this number. Cost overruns by projects proposed and implemented by Democrats are not uncommon. The Big Dig, a highway/tunnel project in Boston was originally budgeted at approximately 2.8 billion. When the project was finally completed, ten years later than expected, its price tag was 15 billion dollars. A complicated series of unforeseen events triggered this project’s elevated costs and time delays including; very poor workmanship, unions and their selective work rules, double and triple overtime payments, poor quality materials, constant political interference, design flaws, deaths due to accidents and much more. Maryland’s ill-conceived wind project will have many of the same problems, which will intrinsically have its own set of cost overruns and time delays. The proposed legislation will have new entitlements for the Afro-American community, which include allowing minority investors to selectively buy into this project. Additionally, the plan provides a 10 million dollar fund to assist minority businesses so they can participate in supply chain economics of this horrifically conceived project. Many more questions arise than can be answered here. Who will get these jobs? Is the selective minority funding constitutional? Who will be accountable when the costs for this proposed project run into the billions? Who will benefit from Maryland’s newest proposed disaster: state workers and companies or out of state entities? In the event there is any sanity left in the Maryland State Legislature they should vote this tragedy down. Maryland does not need its own Solyndra, we have had too many already. Mark Davis MD, platomd@gmail.com, www.healthnetsreviewservices.com