Posted on 11/13/2008 9:30:00 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
If you’re having trouble figuring out what Gov. Deval Patrick’s really trying to do with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, just keep in mind the ABC’s of Beacon Hill budgeting:
Anything But Cuts.
While your wages have likely remained flat the past five years, state government spending has gone up 8 percent each year. During the past year, while the private sector was losing 1.4 million jobs, USA Today reports that state and local governments added 160,000 - the second-fastest growing sector of the economy.
So when you hear that Patrick is “getting rid of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority,” you should take a moment to read the fine print. Not to mention grab your wallet.
It’s all but certain that the Mass Pike is finally going out of business. I expect we’ll see the last bits of Mass Pike letterhead burned at a high-profile press event next year. But will we see any serious cuts in state spending as a result?
Don’t count on it. For one thing, the Pike still hasn’t seen the governor’s proposal. According to media accounts, Pike officials will get the final version of Patrick’s plan today, pass a $100 million toll hike late tomorrow and then flee to the safety of the Witness Relocation Program over the weekend.
Do I exaggerate? Remember that this Mass Pike meeting was originally scheduled for before the Nov. 4 vote on Question 1, but was postponed until after the election. Now that 70 percent of Bay Staters have voted to happily keep feeding the Beacon Hill beast, there’ll be nothing but toll hikes and tax increases as far as the eye can see.
So determined are Deval and Co. to avoid cutting their bloated budget, they’ve even found a way to turn a “spending cut” into a fee increase.
According to the RMV Web site, Patrick’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Rachel Kaprielian, has “eliminated courtesy notices that are sent to customers” when vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses come up for renewal. This, Kaprielian claims, will save the RMV some $800,000 a year.
But it will cost drivers millions of dollars more.
Pop quiz: Do you know when your driver’s license expires? Of course not. Neither do I.
The folks at the RMV know that. In fact, they’re counting on it.
You see, if the state spends 42 cents to remind me I need to renew my license, the state makes $60. But if they don’t remind me and I get busted for driving with an expired license, the state can shake me down for up to $1,000.
That’s the kind of math every bureaucrat understands.
New Hampshire and Rhode Island both send these helpful reminders to their busy, hard-working citizens. Their goal is to keep taxpayers on the road with the least hassle and expense possible.
Massachusetts has a different goal: more fines and more money for more government spending.
Over the next few weeks, you’re going to hear quite a bit about “draconian” budget cuts and pols making “tough decisions.” When it’s all over, your tolls will be up, your taxes will be up and state spending will be up, up, up. And we’ll still have more state employees working your dime this year than last.
The Patrick administration calls that “reform.” If you want to hear what the rest of us call it, hang around the toll booths at the Ted Williams Tunnel when the price jumps to $8.50 a pop.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if an Obama administration fully approves of tolls being created in all fifty states. Tolls and taxes go hand-in-hand with leftists.
Oh, ... never mind.
Not for nothing, but what’s the difficulty with reading your driver’s license to see when it expires? Maybe they’re disenfranchised drivers.
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