Maryland has become an even worse state to do business in over the last year, according to CNBC's Top States for Business 2026 list, which the cable TV business channel unveiled today. Moribund Maryland dropped four spots to #36 this year based on CNBC's criteria, which examine each state's infrastructure, economy, workforce, quality of life, cost of doing business, and technology and innovation. Virginia, by contrast, moved up to #3, and is perennially in the top 5 on this list.
Why is Maryland once again a bottom dweller, and sinking? The primary new factors are the state's IT tax, which has not only massively increased IT costs (including my own) for Maryland businesses, but has only increased the exodus of companies from the state. Maryland's highest profile infrastructure project, the Key Bridge replacement, has stalled out. That missing highway link not only remains a logistical nightmare for businesses large and small that relied on it, but only adds to Maryland's national notoriety as a state with inadequate infrastructure, and an ideological hostility to road construction. And after Maryland Governor Wes Moore and the state legislature used Zohran Mamdani slight-of-hand tactics to raid precious funds for a desperation one-year budget fix, S&P downgraded Maryland's long-term outstanding debt outlook from stable to negative.
Continuing to plague our state are our own elected officials. For another year, Montgomery County and Maryland officials failed to take any steps toward construction of the long-delayed new Potomac River crossing, which would give us the critically-needed direct access to Dulles International Airport that corporate executives demand (and currently get in Northern Virginia). In fact, our leaders proudly stand against the new bridge, which was supposed to have been constructed 50 years ago. Multiple highways planned to handle explosive housing growth that has already taken place over decades in Montgomery County not only remain unbuilt, but have been criminally removed from the master plan, a blatant dereliction of duty by our elected officials.
Electricity costs continue to skyrocket, again the direct result of actions by our elected officials. They forced the closure of 8 power plants statewide, and implemented clean power mandates. These buffoonish diktats brought us where we are now: not only unable to provide cheap and abundant energy for business, but unable to even provide sufficient electricity capacity to meet existing demand. This has required Maryland to import electricity at inflated boardwalk prices from out of state.
Maryland has only increased the tax burden on business, when our corporate tax rate was already not competitive for business. The Montgomery County Council not only implemented multiple tax hikes this year, including yet another property tax increase, but actually created new taxes amid an affordability crisis. And despite their minimum wage increases having been an utter catastrophe, ushering in the age of restaurants using touchscreens and fewer employees, the Marxist radicals on the Council are now poised to join the national bankruptcy movement that is calling for a $30 minimum wage.
Yet another chance to change direction is quickly slipping through the fingers of MoCo and Maryland voters. Turnout in last month's primary election was humiliatingly small. The Banner, whose billionaire oligarch owner puts his news behind a paywall(!!) and is a well-known Democratic operative, actually posted a story on Facebook claiming Democratic Montgomery County Executive nominee Will Jawando "is expected to be sworn in as the next Montgomery County executive in December." In fact, The Banner wrote, Jawando "will almost certainly be sworn in as the next Montgomery County executive in December."
The November general election hasn't even taken place, folks. This is classic voter suppression by The Banner: make voters feel hopeless. Why bother to vote when The Banner has told you the outcome is already known? "Democracy," right? At The Banner, democracy dies in a $50 million grant from the billionaire Democratic operative owner to run that propaganda outlet, which was warmly welcomed in Montgomery County by the very politicians who would fear a true journalistic examination of their true crimes and corruption. Fortunately, the Montgomery County and Maryland cartels don't control CNBC, and the results truly speak for themselves.
Wes Moore is a disgrace. The stolen valor story is very real but will never gain traction in deep Blue MD. With an overall anti-business mentality, MD will drop even further under Moore. He'll run for president eventually. Bus sadly for us, is a shoe in two term governor.
ReplyDeleteAnd your the nickname for a mule. Nothing holding you back, unless you can't get out of your basement, leave.
Delete7:28 is the typical progressive that can't see the forest from the trees. Katie Wilson is leaning this the hard way but don't ever let logic get in the way of your political worldview.
DeleteYou really think a Republican could ever win the County Executive vote in strongly Democratic Montgomery County? I think the Banner is just stating the obvious. By the way, do you know the number one state in CNBC Top States for Business 2026 list? Rustbelt Ohio! Perhaps the last place I would ever want to live, unless I wanted to start a Rustoleum paint store.
ReplyDelete6:32: Do you really think James Talarico could ever win statewide in strongly Republican Texas? Yet he, like Beto, is considered even or ahead of his GOP opponent. The difference? Media narrative. In Texas, the press is telling voters Talarico has a real chance, thereby boosting Democratic turnout, and giving Talarico...a real chance. Here, The Banner - and other local media - are hammering home a message that there's no chance, thereby suppressing Republican and independent turnout.
DeleteRobert Dyer @ 3:57 AM - Texas is the state of LBJ, Ann Richards, Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins.
DeleteNobody, and I mean nobody, reads or is influenced by the Banner. This isn't 1976 and nobody cares what some publication with almost no distribution has to say.
DeleteYou have such a fundamental misunderstanding of what drives people to vote in this area, and it unfortunately influences your coverage far too often. Collectively, people in Montgomery County are just not that angry...you, and a huge subset of your readers, are angry (at seemingly everything). You sound like you have a problem, well why not propose a real plan- with concrete next steps and follow ups- to galvanize your readership to address it. Endless screaming at the shape of the clouds everyday doesn't seem to be getting the results in MC that you want.
Republicans probably can win...they just don't see to want to do the work. They just want to complain about why they are being blocked and why people ignore them. They assume that people who aren't like-minded are so angry at corporate tax codes (moribund!!), or bicycle/bus lanes (socialists!!) that they want to upend their whole local government to "throw the bums out." That just isn't how you win when you are in the minority (people who actually see value in bike paths and some corporate regulation)- you actually have to get people who wouldn't ever vote for republicans to vote for them. It's a long process, to be honest, but it is achievable...and it has nothing to do with the Banner.
11:48 has a fundamental misunderstanding of their own voters most of which refuse to read beyond the headlines of the WP. Ignorance and apathy aren't virtues despite facts to the contrary. Take a look at the voting demographics that will put DSA candidates into office. Not the working class brown & black people the left says it wants to help who voted overwhelmly for the mainstream candidate. No, it was the wealthy "highly educated" , I would say the most TDS inflicted, voters that put them into office.
DeleteDespite what you leftists want to project, you're completely driven by progressive headlines which is driving this state into ruin. The MSM has you completely brainwashed with non-factual drivel. Start reading more and deeper into these issues and root causes instead of yelling Trump all day long. You guys would be funny if you were locked up in zoo's instead of being in charge.
@6:47 tf is bro yapping about
DeleteEnglish comprehension is difficult for someone like 7:33 with a limited attention span.
Delete@3:22 old man yells at cloud
Delete@11:28 projection
Delete@3:39 floundering
Delete@9:58 True projection!
Delete@2:07 zero self awareness. Sad.
Delete@7:43 More projection
Delete@10:40 this is the part of the script where you throw out words you don't understand as an act of desperation.
Delete@12:36 this is the part of the script where the desperate government drone pretends to work. Seriously, seek help.
Delete@4:47 you're welcome for my service :)
Delete@1:31 the racist is still trying. Get help.
Delete@4:37 speaking of yourself in the third person again?
DeleteThere is a doom loop coming to MD that Moore and all the liberals in charge are ignoring. The current exodus in real taxpayers being replaced by illegals on entitlements all while they're doing nothing to attract businesses and spending the state into huge deficits because of the miscalculation of incoming revenue which is decreasing. We do know what everyone in charge is doing, gerrymandering the eastern shore into Baltimore County and setting up the ICE hotline. One would think it hurts to be this stupid but apparently not.
ReplyDelete"Stupid is as stupid does" --Forrest Gump
DeleteAnd there's that "illegals" dogwhistle
Delete1:26 demonstrating that liberals have no argument and their morals blow like a pinwheel. Like supporting Plantner until the polls showed he couldn't win at which point you then believed all women. Transparently pathetic.
Delete@1:25 is your vocabulary limited or like 7:28 stated you have no argument? The council is spending taxpayer dollars to shield Illegals which is now headed to court and like MCPS, will spend enormous amounts of public money to defend the indefensible just to lose.
DeleteYup, 8:55 is correct, MD is on a glide path to destruction. When Jawando get in, that path will become somewhat steeper. There is no hope, the Republicans can do nothing. The destruction of the county is 100% on Democrats. Can't wait until '29 when the Purple line opens, crime in Bethesda soars, and Democrats will blame.... anything but themselves.
Delete@7:28 projection
Delete@4:40 blatant lie, dogwhistle
@4:52 purple line dogwhistle
@1:26 ignorant
Delete@7:31 apathetic
@11:44 coping, seething, malding
Delete@11:22 you tried!
Delete@3:40 crying and punching the air, even
Delete@9:59 So cute! Show your work to the teacher when you're finished!
DeleteI came to the conclusion back in 2022 (right before Moore was sworn in) that the only effective remedy was to leave MD. Which is what I did. After 60+ years. I encourage others to follow. Let them try to finance their support of thousands of illegal immigrants without the folks who pay the taxes.
ReplyDeleteWe're happy to see you leave <3
Delete1:25 is just dumb as rocks. When real taxpayers leave, someone has to make up the lost projected revenue. Go back to school.
Delete1:25 is 'on the receiving end' of the tax and spend gubmint machine. The ones leaving are on the pay and sacrifice side.
Delete@7:30 and @1:31 you're welcome to leave too <3
Delete@7:34 If you had an ounce of intelligence it might be painful to be so ignorant so you're probably safe.
Delete@7:30/1:31 Don't bother to engage 7:34 as he/she/him/her/it have a very limited vocabulary and can only retort in one word responses.
Delete@11:41 and 12:46 don't let the door hit ya on the way out! <3
Delete@11:22 cope
Delete@3:41 bye! <3
Delete@9:58 Cope harder ;-)
Delete@2:03 byebye! <3
Delete@12:43 Don't go away mad, just go back to work!
DeleteOh and try to cope!
Delete@1:08 the boomer is trying to use words it doesn't understand. Yikes.
Delete@7:21 Sad that your understanding is so limited but hey, you tried, right?
Delete@1:23 it's still trying to use the language of the youth.....
Delete@7:42 you're still trying and failing. So sorry for your loss.
Delete@4:36 it's trying to save face... fascinating...
Delete@2:28 what's fascinating is that a proven liar projecting.
Delete@8:40 I agree, it's fascinating watching you.
Delete11:05 is the child liar but also doesn't think child rape is a big deal. Fascinating insight into liberal thinking.
Delete@5:16 projection
Delete8:42 has a limited vocabulary. I guess child groomers spend time elsewhere.
Delete@8:45 yes, they can be found at maga rallies.
DeleteTowns in both Arlington and Fairfax Counties do have a greater density of small businesses and eateries compared to Montgomery county. The parking lots have cars too so people are patronizing them. My impression is that PG county is a little better also. Maybe the rents are cheaper in PG? Montco wants to cluster businesses in developments like PIke and Rose and the Federal Reality rents.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats out number Republicans 4 to 1 in MoCo. Not really just a strong majority, but a bright American Flag Blue county. Of course voter suppression is not a healthy thing at any point. Republicans and any other party are certainly free to attempt to change this, but a news outlet stating the Jawando is the likely new County Executive is really just their editors opinion, and stating the likely outcome.
ReplyDelete6:38: That's a key point - an editor's opinion should be limited to the editorial page. News articles need to be objective. Another key point, again, is that a Republican statewide office victory is also "the likely outcome" in Texas. But that's not how most media outlets are covering the Talarico-Paxton race. To listen to the press, it's a real horse race and Talarico is neck and neck with Paxton in a bright American flag red state. I guarantee that the MoCo executive race would be closer if local media sustained a similar narrative regarding Jawando and Esther Wells.
DeleteThe MoCo tenuous tax revenue model depends primarily on the hapless federal employees who unwittingly reside in the so called affluent suburbia.
ReplyDeleteBut the media want Jawando to win and react accordingly.
ReplyDeleteAnd MoCo will transform into a Mad Max playground:
Deletehttps://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/02/24/jawando-and-mink-introduce-bill-to-limit-traffic-stops/
7:28 - Huh?
ReplyDelete4:52 - And when the homeless end up all over the place, they'll certainly never suspect the PL to be a major contributor. By the way, the made up term, unhoused is about as ridiculous as suggesting master bedroom is racist.
ReplyDeleteDidn't the $15/hrs minimum wage solve the problem?
ReplyDelete