Maryland governor's false claim of tax cuts for some is really a tax hike for nearly everybody

Despite claims by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore that some Marylanders will receive a tax cut under his budget proposal, the math is adding up otherwise. Moore's proposed changes to the tax code would provide the average low-income resident with an annual tax cut of $300, and "middle class" taxpayers with an average savings of $173. Even in another dimension where those taxpayers would actually end up in the black on Tax Day with those amounts, you could still imagine Dr. Evil rubbing his hands together over that paltry "one-hundred and seventy-three dollars." But imagining is all that taxpayers who were promised a "tax cut" will be able to do next April 15, based on new numbers emerging from the state and economists in recent days.

For those working and middle-class taxpayers, the new, doubled vehicle registration fee alone will wipe out their entire tax cut. The Moore plan also eliminates deductions such as mortgage payments for homeowners. This is not only insane at a time when homeownership is already incredibly expensive and hard to attain, but is also an embrace of a radical idea designed to discourage people from even owning a home, by removing one of its key advantages over renting. With mortgages and other costs no longer deductible, most taxpayers making a modest $75,000 and up would find Moore's deduction-elimination plan delivering a tax hike. And even the low-income taxpayers are unlikely to realize any savings once all of the new, regressive tax hikes and fees are factored in.

A proposed new tax on "sugary drinks" is misleadingly promoted by sponsors as a "2-cent tax." In reality, it is 2-cents per ounce. That means $2.88 per 12-pack of sodas. $3.84 for a 12-pack of Monster Energy drinks. Multiply that by 26 or 52 weeks, depending on consumption level, and you're talking about a serious escalation in price, at a time when groceries are already obscenely-expensive for all but the wealthiest. Why in the world would our elected officials do this to their constituents?

The average Amazon Prime member places 100 orders from Amazon per year. And the average American orders food from a food delivery service like DoorDash or Uber Eats around 60 times per year. That means Moore's new 75-cents tax on all retail and food deliveries from Amazon, DoorDash, Uber Eats and other equivalent services would cost the average Marylander an additional $120 per year.

I've already reported on the massive tax hikes Moore has proposed for marijuana and sports betting. But there's yet another target for new taxes: guns. Two proposed bills would place a new 12% excise tax on all firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition.

We haven't even factored in the skyrocketing energy bills that are the direct result of Moore and the Maryland General Assembly's Communist EmPOWER MD fee hike, and their forced closure of 8 power plants across the state to meet a 100% "clean" energy target by 2035.

Conservative news outlets wringing their hands over the potential flight of the rich from Maryland are actually underplaying the threat to the state's future, because such departures of the well-off were an established fact following former Gov. Martin O'Malley's disastrous "millionaire's tax" of 2012. Only two years after that tax hike, there were 1000 less such "millionaires" filing tax returns in Maryland, and it's only gotten worse since.

So why would Moore press ahead while knowing this? Because he knows that, like before, it's the working stiffs and modestly well-off white collar workers who are really going to pick up the tab. In fact, The Washington Post calculated that Marylanders who make under $500,000 will actually contribute about 60% of the new revenue generated by the Moore tax plan. And as many economists have noted, in a real estate market as expensive as we are in now, those lucky enough to be in home are unlikely to relocate to avoid taxes, unlike the rich who can afford to move and often have more than one home.