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Posts Tagged ‘Maryland’
March 21st, 2014 at 8:38 am
Maryland to Extend ObamaCare Enrollment Deadline

First the feds, now the states.

“To be clear, the state says it’s not an extension of the open enrollment period scheduled to close March 31. Only Marylanders who made an attempt to enroll by March 31 will get more time if they call a state hotline by that day. All four insurers selling on Maryland’s exchange agreed to the special extension,” explains the Washington Post.

Oregon and Nevada are also weighing whether to grant extensions for enrollment. Like Maryland, their residents have found it extremely difficult to complete the sign-up process for subsidized ObamaCare plans due to glitch-prone public websites.

Of course, anyone who’s watched the news since last October knows that the federal exchange – Healthcare.gov – has been notoriously difficult to use. So perhaps it’s no wonder that the Obama administration is considering granting its own extension to allow enrollment to continue after the original drop-dead date.

Granted, it’s not an individual’s fault that a government’s website is impossible to use. And it’s unfair in the extreme to turn around and penalize the same person when a government-imposed deadline passes without the mandated sign-up. But perhaps news of an extension would be easier to swallow if it wasn’t grouped with more than 30 other intentional delays that further complicate the law.

The news of enrollment extensions isn’t surprising. In its most basic elements, ObamaCare doesn’t work. But for its supporters propping it up with all kinds of extra-legal maneuvers, the law would collapse under the weight of its failed promises.

September 30th, 2013 at 7:34 pm
Shaky Launch for ObamaCare Exchanges Looming

However tonight’s government shutdown/showdown plays out, tomorrow’s big news is likely to be how well the 51 ObamaCare insurance exchanges are performing.

Projections don’t look pretty, according to the New York Times.

A few of the low-lights include:

·    The District of Columbia will not be able to determine online whether people qualify for Medicaid or for a federal subsidy (the difference is crucial)

·    In Nevada, a Spanish-language version of the exchange’s website will not be ready until mid-November

·    In Maryland, small businesses will not be able to buy insurance for their employees until January

Rocky King, Oregon’s exchange director and winner of the Mr. Honesty award, tells the Times, “I have no idea what this thing’s going to look like on Oct. 1. We could crash and burn and have to close it down.”

We’ll know soon enough.

April 8th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Maryland Govt Gives In-State Tuition to Illegals

The Maryland House followed the state Senate’s lead last night and passed a bill giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates for community colleges.  After graduating from a two-year school, beneficiaries would then be eligible for in-state tuition at four-year universities.

Maryland: so generous, it’s criminal.

January 15th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Taxing Booze Won’t Help Your Competence
Posted by Print

Maryland lawmakers are in trouble.  They’ve spent too much money over the past decade; with the economic recession, they now have a $2 billion deficit.

Cutting spending would seem to be the logical way to reduce the deficit but since Maryland already has the fourth highest state/local tax burden in the nation, state politicians are now proposing another tax hike in an attempt to get to number one.  Someone’s got to stick it to New Jersey.

This time Annapolis is out to get the partygoers in Fells Point and Bethesda with a new 10 cents-per-drink tax on alcohol.  In total, the booze tax is expected to raise $200 million, though this is still just a fraction of the sum needed to fill the state’s budget gap.

Bars and liquor stores have an obvious motivation to oppose the new legislation but ole Joe Sixpack should shudder as well.  The tax would total about 55 cents for a bottle of wine and 75 cents on a handle of liquor.

Perhaps the crowds at Fells Point and Bethesda will finish their drinks and then let Annapolis know that the booze tax is a horrible idea that won’t fill the state’s budget gap.  It will, however, upset a lot of drinkers. That’s never promising.

January 7th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
The Nanny State Strikes Again
Posted by Print

Well, the Nanny State never tires at trying to run every aspect of our lives.  The San Francisco shopping bag ban appears to be making its ugly migration eastward.

Virginia and Maryland are now looking to follow the lead of other meddling jurisdictions as they consider a 5-cent tax on shopping bags.  This is not only an affront to individual liberty but also another pathetic attempt by government to raise a little extra cash.

What’s most disturbing about this scheme to tax “paper or plastic” is that most grocery stores in the area already incentivize recycling.  Local stores like Giant, Whole Foods (run by a libertarian who eschews most state involvement) and Harris Teeter already offer 5-cent discounts (per bag) for customers who bring in their own.

Politicians can’t complain that the market hasn’t taken the lead because most private companies are already ahead of career politicians on the issue.

Delegate Alfred Carr of Montgomery County, Maryland opined, “We need to do this as a region.”  Really?   Your state is mired in recession, most private companies already promote recycling and you believe a new tax on plastic bags is a pressing issue?  Your state has the fourth highest tax burden in the nation and you think that increasing that burden will help your constituents?

As former Chief Justice John Marshall famously stated, “[T]he power to tax involves the power to destroy.”  Perhaps we should tax running for reelection.  Stopping career politicians like Mr. Carr from regulating our shopping habits would surely be a greater advancement for society than a marginal reduction in plastic bag consumption.  After all, reducing the number of career politicians is always a worthy cause.