Wealthy Can Afford Raise in Top Tax Rate

Gov. Martin O'Malley should be commended for the changes he's proposing to Maryland's income tax rates ("O'Malley details cut in income tax," Sept. 20).

Although the changes are relatively modest, Mr. O'Malley has approached income tax reform in a fair way.

Given Maryland's status as the richest state in the union, those earning salaries above $150,000 should be able to cough up an additional 1 percent of their income to continue to enjoy the services they receive from our government.

Most Republicans applauded President Bush when he implemented his devastating tax cuts.

Now Mr. O'Malley wants to give working families a break by making our tax code more progressive, and the Republicans are trying to find something wrong with the plan.

But the fact is that you can only cut so much from the budget while demanding road and bridge repairs, new schools, and better government services.

And since the changes in the income tax system are the fairest part of Mr. O'Malley's deficit-reduction plan, that proposal deserves a chance.

Aimee Darrow

Baltimore

This was published in today's Baltimore Sun

. What I can do now is add the parts the editor cut out. Most importantly, I pointed out that when Bush sent everyone those ridiculous $100 checks, the Republicans almost wet their pants telling us how fair he was to working families. O'Malley's new income tax plan will save most Marylanders about the same amount of money annually.

I also noted that the Republicans all support slot machine gambling to raise revenue, which is most devastating to low-income families. It seems like they want Maryland's low-income families to shoulder the burden of closing our deficit. It's only fair that wealthier Marylanders pay their fair share.

On to another topic, I've added some cool new links you should check out to further your knowledge of the great world of coffee. Check out Coffee Universe which should also be known as "Coffee University" for all the good information it has. I also added a link to Paul Krugman's blog, which I mentioned a couple posts ago. In the future, I'll be adding some GLBT parenting sites.

This Sunday is a beautiful day for that perfect cup of coffee and some knitting. Kick back and enjoy.