Is George F. Harrison Jr. the nom de plume of Gov. Martin O'Malley's press secretary, or is it that The Sun only publishes anti-Ehrlich missives ("Ehrlich would be wise not to focus on the past," Readers respond, April 13)?

As anybody knows who was involved in the issue during the Ehrlich years, the failure to pass a slots bill lies squarely at the feet of House Speaker Michael E. Busch. Because of Mr. Busch and Mr. Busch alone, Maryland is 10 years behind Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia with respect to this source of revenue and jobs.

And from whence did Mr. Harrison dream up this $1.5 billion deficit? Does he know the difference between a deficit and a surplus? It reminds me of the column Dave Barry wrote years ago on how to argue — one tip was "just make things up!" Mr. Harrison must have taken the advice to heart.

Thomas F. McDonough, Towson