Lindsey McPherson wrote a very good article about local reaction to the Governor's proposed gas tax increase in this week's Patuxent publications. You can find it here.
The article couldn't have been better timed, as nationally, gas tax prices rose by 12 cents, on average, last week alone. And many gas price prognosticators are predicting a nationwide average of $4 per gallon by Memorial Day, and $5 sometime over the summer. All the fun and games going on with Iran's nuclear program is at least partially to blame for the increase, those as we know, the US doesn't get a single drop of cruse oil from Iran.
All of this being the case, why the heck is the Governor still pressing forward with the gas tax increase? Wouldn't it be prudent to wait until next year to advance the gas tax, and simply withdraw it this year? Especially since Governor O'Malley considers himself a Presidential candidate for 2016. Wouldn't make much sense to be known as the Governor who raised gas taxes during what may be the largest spike in gasoline taxes in history, now would it?
I get the fact that the tax increase is to pay for transportation projects and that long-term, and more importantly, the state's focus should be on developing green technology. But I would caution the Governor to be sensitive to the climate of the times. And right now, the last thing people want to hear is "gas tax", no matter how noble the cause.
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