T he just-concluded special session of the Maryland General Assembly has brought us the largest and most regressive tax increase in our history. With it, of course, was a dramatic increase in new spending, an important but generally ignored aspect of the session.

Maryland’s tax and spending habits, however, are overshadowed by something far more troubling: The heavy-handed and over-reaching manner the new administration and the legislative leaders used to accomplish their goal. Consider these four characteristics of the not-so special session of the General Assembly.

Deceitful: The alleged purpose of the special session was to fix a projected budget shortfall. Yet, before the session’s first gavel, the spending trough was opened. Brought back to Annapolis to address an alleged budget deficit, the legislature deepened the hole by approving more than $1.5 billion dollars in additional spending, while passing massive tax hikes behind closed doors and in the middle of the night. Public participation was stifled; debate was curtailed. Legislators added new taxes to the plan without even disclosing them to the citizens and industries affected. The stampede to pass these tax increases before the end of the year turned into an expensive sham.

Cynical: The new administration asked Marylanders to believe that 83 percent of taxpayers would pay less in state taxes despite their proposed tax increase of nearly $2 billion dollars, a notion since proved misleading at best. Not even the legislature went along with this silly proposition. Only a cynical monopoly would attempt to sell such a thing. Of course, if you shop in Maryland, earn an income in Maryland, buy a car in Maryland or own a computer in Maryland, you will pay more taxes.

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Depressing: After decades of building and fighting for a reputation as a business-friendly state, Maryland has now taken a giant step backward. Let’s face reality: A 20 percent increase in the state’s sales tax and an 18 percent increase in the state’s corporate tax are not, as some in Annapolis tried to suggest, positive competitive moves. Instead, they send a chilling message to the business community and present a significant marketing advantage to nearby states to recruit additional employers away from Maryland. Not surprisingly, recent studies show that confidence among small and mid-sized Maryland business owners is declining for the first time in years.

Destructive: The across-the-board tax increases mean more Marylanders will do their Christmas shopping in Delaware, visit the race track in West Virginia, move their small businesses to Pennsylvania and choose to make Florida their legal residence. History has shown, time and again, how huge tax hikes have destroyed economic growth. As a result of this special session, our businesses will pay an estimated $800 million in new taxes, forcing them to shed hundreds if not thousands of jobs. Even worse, Marylanders will lose an estimated $461 million in personal income by 2012 as a result of these taxes.

There has been a real public outcry over the actions of our representatives in Annapolis. But life has taught us that this anger will be short-lived. Perhaps that will be true again. But all those “working families” — and average taxpayers — we hear so much about deserve so much better. I hope they are paying attention this time.

Fortunately, we are not without recourse. We can let Annapolis know they have gone too far.

We can lend our support to candidates from both sides of the aisle who will challenge the old order in Annapolis, hold the line on government spending and waste, and protect our small businesses and our family budgets.

Robert Ehrlich Jr. is the former governor of Maryland.