Nov 30, 2012
Eye Opener: Transportation, energy top list for some lawmakers
By: Alexander Pyles
A few government and politics headlines for Friday:
- The Gazette reports that state lawmakers in rural areas are targeting transportation and energy issues for discussion in the 2013 General Assembly.
- The Annapolis Capital reports supporters of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law raised double the amount of money compared to opponents prior to Election Day.
- MarylandReporter.com advances this weekend’s Maryland Republican Convention.
- The Washington Post reports on a legal hurdle cleared for gay couples who want to marry in Maryland.
- The Baltimore Sun reports Gov. Martin O’Malley is asking President Barack Obama to continue his support of renewable energy incentives.
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I think most citizens will shout out that a return to public utilities is in order. We applaud the New Jersey municipality that says ‘enough is enough’ and is moving to buy back their utilities. We know ratepayers and the public are simply used to boost corporate profits, so moving away from privatization is a no-brainer.
We also recognize that the Transportation Trust was emptied by all of the development in the Washington suburbs with the ICC and the Montgomery County/Veola transit system. So, it seems a special tax on those counties will be needed to rebuild the Trust. We certainly do not want to do credit bond leveraging in these shaky economic times…..we don’t want public assets going to the banks like they are in Greece after all.
It is time to recognize the lost revenue from hybrid and electric cars and trucks and attaching a special tax on annual driving fees in order to replace the missing gas tax. Can you imagine having only those using gas paying for all road construction? Not too democratic. Then there is that pesky progressive rate in taxing gas companies more when moving gas from refinery to stations. Those making the most in profit should be paying more in transference fees…..followed by station owners and then the individual at the pump pay a small 2% more.
We need to move to a more progressive approach to taxation in Maryland as the wealth inequity is tops in the country. I hate to have those few at the top feel so guilty about not paying their fair share!