George Will on Statist Maryland
January 19th, 2006 by Brendan SteinhauserShoplifting as Governance
Maryland Lawmakers’ Unethical Grab at Wal-Mart’s Revenue
By George F. Will
Thursday, January 19, 2006; A19
In 1786 the Annapolis Convention, requested by Virginia and attended by only four other states, called for a second gathering to revise the Articles of Confederation in order to strengthen the federal government. Some revision: The second meeting became the Constitutional Convention. It scrapped the Articles, partly because the Founders were alarmed by states legislating relief of debtors at the expense of creditors, often in ways not easily distinguished from theft.
Something not easily distinguished from theft recently occurred in Annapolis. In legislation ostensibly concerned with any company that has 10,000 employees but pertaining only to one, Maryland has said Wal-Mart must spend 8 percent of its payroll on health care or must give the difference to the state.
The rest of the story is here.
