GOOD JOB, BOB
Today Gov. Bob Ehrlich vetoed a bunch of silly bills that the Maryland legislature put on his desk during this year's legislative session. He killed 19 bills. Here' how the Baltimore Sun characterized the move:As promised, Ehrlich vetoes tax package
Corporations put ahead of citizens, critics say
Ah, the objective dispassionate press, so fair and balanced on the politics of the day. This must be Rupert Murdoch's fault. Oh wait, he doesn't own the Sun. It's a lib'ral paper. I guess imbalanced reporting is fine then.
Do you know what kind of stuff the gov actually had to kill today? He had to veto a bill that would have given illegal aliens access to Maryland universities at in-state tuition fees. I'm not making this up--the Maryland General Assembly, already a gadzillion dollars in the hole from the drunken-sailor spending of the bastard-making Parris Glendenning years (research his last year in office, you'll figure out what I mean), actually passed a bill that would give foreigners with no respect for American immigration law better prices to attend Maryland schools than most of you reading this could get. You would still have to pay out-of-state tuition if
Now don't get me wrong, got nothin' agin them ferriners. Married one, actually, but we got her in this here country right and legal. We got married in Japan, then a couple years later got sneered at by INS officials in downtown Baltimore, after filling out a couple of reems of paperwork. We paid fees, had pictures taken, all that stuff that the Maryland General Assembly apparently thinks is just so much busywork. Ehrlich's college bill veto didn't amuse the state's Hispanic mouthpieces:
Hispanic activists condemned Ehrlich's veto of the immigrant tuition bill, which would have allowed undocumented immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools to pay the lower in-state tuition rates. It conflicts, they said, with his earlier pledges to show compassion for people in need.
Don't you love that phrase, "undocumented aliens." It's a politically correct way of describing people who have no respect for American law, for the value of citizenship and for the integrity of our country's borders. It also has a certain menacing cache after 9-11. But in this case, we're not talking about terrorists, just freeloaders. People who don't pay taxes and should be deported, but get mad when an elected official has the spine necessary to actually side with the people who a) live here legally and b) put him in office in the first place. And these people have been here long enough to graduate from high school, but for some reason couldn't work in a day or two down at INS. Giving them a free ride at our primary schools apparently isn't enough--they want to suck at the state teet on the collegiate level too. Compassion? How about a little compassion on the people who actually make this state tick, keeping it financially afloat with our income tax dollars and our property tax dollars? Ehrlich's veto showed that kind of compassion--the kind that makes some sense and may just keep him around for another four years.
The gov also killed a gigantic tax bill that would've slapped it to the state's larger businesses by closing up methods they use to shelter their dollars from Annapolis' grubby hands. Had he signed it, those businesses would have had one more reason to leave a state that's already riddled with crime and still reeling from a) its proximity to Washington, terror target central, and b) last fall's sniper spree. No one wants to come here because of that stuff. Businesses know that Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virgina--Maryland's major neighbors--already have friendlier tax climates. The dead bill probably would've driven more than a few of them across state lines for good.
The gov managed to keep from legalizing speed radar cameras, which I think is a good move on civil liberties grounds (the things are all too easily manipulated and abused) and--get this--had the gall to veto a bill that would've made walking the official state exercise. The nerve. Montogomery County Executive Doug Duncan called Ehrlich "mean spirited" for the above vetoes, plus one that barred him from using a statewide hike on vehicle fees for use in his little fiefdom. Calling someone "mean" is one of the supreme liberal insults, along with "intolerant" and "insensitive." Gov. Ehrlich has been called those, too. It doesn't seem to bother him.
Taken as whole, I'd say Bob Ehrlich had a good day today. Fifty-two percent of Marylanders had the good sense to put him in office to get a handle on the state's rampaging budget, keep taxes to a minimum, and knock off the PC nonsense that has gripped Annapolis for a generation. He heeded us, and while he hasn't had a perfect first session, he's done about as well as can be expected given the environment.