Governor Moore: Taxman by Clayton Mitchell

“Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman… 

And you’re working for no one but me.”

-The Beatles

In the grand tradition of political mendacity, Governor Wes Moore has presided over what can only be described as a fiscal calamity, an unforced error of staggering proportions. As reported with commendable diligence by Gary Collins of WBFF FOX 45’s Spotlight on Maryland, the state now faces a veritable chasm in its budget – a deficit of $3.3 billion. Instead of deploying the intellectual fortitude required to navigate this quagmire, Moore’s administration has opted for the more convenient approach of feigned obliviousness, coupled with an indiscriminate barrage of tax increases designed to strangle Maryland’s economic vitality.

Among the most egregious of these proposals is the so-called “business-to-business tax” – a “dog whistle” for economic contraction – that will extract a 2.5% levy on indispensable commercial services like marketing, financial planning, IT, and tax preparation, to name but a few. As Collins reports, business owners across the state, from financial experts like Tyrone Keys to small entrepreneurs such as Manchester Town Councilman Ryan Nazelrod, are raising alarms about the dire consequences of these tax hikes. 

It was the late economist Milton Friedman who observed that “inflation is taxation without legislation,” but Moore has spared himself even that philosophical subtlety; he is quite content to impose a direct, palpable, and economically corrosive burden on the very enterprises Maryland ostensibly wishes to attract.

Predictably, the middle class, the backbone of any functioning republic, will be made to bear the brunt of these economic impositions. As Collins reports, Nazelrod, an entrepreneur who endeavors to support his family through a part-time landscaping business, articulated a sentiment that should be axiomatic to any serious statesman: “I feel like it was said we are going to tax richer people, and the middle class is going to be left out of it, but I am a middle-class guy.” And yet, despite the protestations of those whose livelihoods are imperiled by these policies, the Moore administration remains ensconced in a fog of ideological certitude.

Public sentiment aligns with Nazelrod’s concerns. According to the January 2025 Gonzales Poll, Marylanders overwhelmingly oppose raising taxes to address the looming deficit. The poll assessed opinions on property, sales, and income tax increases, and the results were unequivocal. 

A staggering 77% opposed raising property taxes, 76% rejected an income tax hike, and 73% were against increasing the sales tax. Even among Moore’s strongest supporters – those who “strongly approve” of his job performance – opposition to tax increases remained high, with 71% against raising property taxes, 67% opposed to an income tax hike, and 62% rejecting a sales tax increase. This widespread rejection underscores the reality that Moore’s fiscal strategy is fundamentally misaligned with the will of the people he purports to serve.

When confronted with the reality of Maryland’s deteriorating fiscal condition, Moore and his acolytes have displayed a remarkable talent for rhetorical sleight of hand. Delegate Ben Barnes, in a moment of political absurdity that would make Orwell wince, sought to place the blame on “Donald Trump, DOGE, and Elon Musk.” To attribute a state’s fiscal woes to the machinations of a cryptocurrency meme and a South African billionaire requires a level of creative fiction typically reserved for the pages of speculative literature.

Yet even this artful deflection pales in comparison to the governor’s most costly blunder: a prodigious expansion of the state’s payroll. Since taking office, Moore has overseen the hiring of 5,000 new state employees, the cost of which is estimated at $425.7 million annually. 

As Collins further reports, at least 3,300 of these positions stem directly from Moore’s budget priorities. This, in a moment of fiscal peril, is not merely irresponsible but a veritable affront to the principles of sound governance. As Keys astutely observed, “The state should be run under the same general practices that Fortune 500 companies run by. The biggest expense in any organization is the human resource’s part, so where can we find efficiencies?” Alas, such elementary economic reasoning appears to have eluded Moore and his clique of bureaucratic enthusiasts.

When pressed for a coherent response, the Moore administration, in a performance of almost Shakespearean evasion, resorted to that most trite of gubernatorial stratagems: blaming one’s predecessor. The claim that Moore “inherited an economic flatline” is an insult to both historical accuracy and the intelligence of Maryland’s citizenry. Under Governor Larry Hogan, the state’s budgetary affairs were in demonstrably better shape, and to suggest otherwise is to engage in revisionism of the most brazen kind.

The governor’s political capital, meanwhile, is diminishing at a rate commensurate with the state’s economic prospects. His push for alcohol sales in grocery stores was rebuffed, his budgetary decisions overturned by the legislature, and his influence within his own party is, at best, questionable. 

As Collins notes, even the Democratic-controlled legislature has disregarded Moore’s preferences, reinstating millions in funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future after he removed it from the budget. Keys so succinctly put it: “The legislature is supposed to jockey for power, but you may not have as much of that coming from the executive because Wes Moore is a new governor and look, I think everybody knows, he’s not fully focused on the State House.”

Indeed, therein lies the crux of the issue. Moore appears more enamored with the lofty daydreams of national prominence than with the pedestrian responsibilities of state governance. If he continues on this trajectory, his tenure will be remembered not as one of growth and renewal, but as a cautionary tale in the annals of political ambition – a reminder that governing requires not just soaring rhetoric, but the mundane, often tedious, yet absolutely indispensable qualities of prudence, discipline, and a modicum of humility.

Maryland deserves better.

Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a life-long Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals.  He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast that discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.