We are back, a few days after exposing CM Evan Glass’s outright fibs in his “Glass Gazette” constituent newsletter, we now can turn our attention, briefly, to CM (and current Council President) Andrew Friedson, a Democrat representing MoCo’s most affluent zip codes.
In his latest constituent e-mail, under the banner of “The Friedson Flyer” (these CMs love alliteration), the Council President lauds “$1.1 billion in direct state aid to… support our public schools, critical transportation services and public safety.” Councilmember Friedson implies this is money “directed” from the magical pot of gold in Annapolis. A gift, secured by our awesome state delegation of career politicians (or aspiring career politicians). We should note (and have written about the need for reforms before) that many of the MoCo state delegation in Annapolis weren’t even elected by people. They were appointed.
Framing this “securing” of state money by lawmakers like CM Friedson has done here is misleading. A lie of omission, in a sense. Any money clawed back from Annapolis by our politicians is a return of money that MoCo’s beleaguered taxpayers and over-taxed families already sent in. MoCo sends in far more to the state treasury then what is doled back out to its residents and homeowners each successive year.
Andrew Friedson knows this, but he chooses to omit this important fact. Easier to brag about “$1.1 billion in direct state aid”. Yeeeeah. That’s well below what MoCo kicked in to keep Annapolis afloat. Why not showcase the full picture? How much precisely does MoCo get back from Annapolis for each dollar it sends in? Mr. Friedson and others definitely have a rough estimate. But they’d rather not say.
Under a proposal that failed this session by Maryland Delegate Palakovich Carr (H.B. 470), some MoCo democrats wanted to tax select incomes even higher… to have even more money sent to Annapolis and then doled out elsewhere.
Instead of getting the fiscal house in order in MD, some of CM Friedson’s colleagues and fellow party members want to keep squeezing affluent MoCo residents (many of whom live in CM Friedson’s district) until these people A) move away (and take their incomes somewhere else for a tax base) or B) figure out ways to reduce their tax liability (defer compensation, work less, invest less, spend less in MD, etc).
Does Friedson agree with this approach to economic stagnation and decline? We sure hope not.
Related posts:
The Inconsistencies, Incoherence in CM Friedson’s Statement on Becoming Council President Are Glaring
CM Mink’s Senior Legislative Aid and Lead for the HHS Committee Appears to Still Be Involved with County Supported Non Profit
MoCo Residents Deserve a Local News Media That Truly Tells “All Sides” of a Story or County Public Policy Proposal