Posted on 05/26/2009 11:38:35 PM PDT by raccoonradio
Posing as a reformer is tiresome work. So said James Michael Curley, and nothing has changed.
Just ask Gov. Deval Patrick. Riding around in his Cadillac, handing out six-figure jobs to his unemployed neighbors, appointing maxed-out campaign contributors to judgeships - now that’s fun.
Trying to keep a straight face while claiming he believes in “reform before revenue” - not nearly so much fun.
Will the benumbed voters buy Deval’s tiresome new pose? Not if they remember his 2006 vow to deliver property-tax relief to homeowners.
Last week, the Senate was “debating” the latest round of tax increases, although maybe debate is too strong a word in a body where the Democrats outnumber Republicans 35-5. But from the outnumbered GOP, you could actually begin to see the outlines of a campaign against Deval.
“The governor was against the sales tax before he was for it,” said Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield). “Then it was revenue before reform. I get so confused.”
Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) spent last week railing against all the proposed new taxes, some of which are supposed to bail out the state’s 351 cities and towns. “I mentioned several communities granting pay raises this year,” Knapik was quoted as saying by the State House News Service. “Kind of like the governor this year, who 20 minutes later asked for concessions. They’ve lost their sense of reality . . . We empathize and try to work with Ways and Means to hold cities and towns harmless. Two weeks later, they’re granting pay raises of 3 percent for this year.”
And the Democrats had no credible comebacks. Here’s Sen. Ben Downing, (D-Pittsfield).
“We have one of the narrowest bases of any sales tax in the country. Things are exempted such as food, clothing up to $175, utilities, home heating.”
And this is a problem . . . for a liberal?
Next was Sen. Brian Joyce, (D-Milton): “When I joined the Legislature 13 years ago in the House, I took a pledge not to raise taxes.”
You can guess where he comes down now. Not for nothing do they call him “Multiple Choice Joyce.” He’s “grown,” as the moonbats say.
Come on down, Sen. Ken “Double Dip” Donnelly, (D-Arlington): “I know what happens when local aid is cut off. This will make sure firefighters and schoolteachers aren’t laid off.”
Thank God Dipper Donnelly’s $51,000-a-year pension from the Lexington Fire Department will not be affected, nor will his $61,000-a-year Senate salary.
Some of these Democrats are still rabid to jack up the gas tax. That gave Knapik a chance to needle them again, by listing how much each of them wants to beggar motorists.
“We’ve got 19-cent Petrucelli from East Boston, 11-cent Creem from Newton, 51-cent Jehlen is here ... Let’s not allow them to gorge themselves. I’m with Obama on the gas tax. ... These citizens we want to tax, they’re our neighbors and our friends.”
Even worse, they’re the ones who keep re-electing the people who desperately want to tax them back to the Stone Age while posing as reformers.
Wed column ping
“one of the narrowest bases of any sales tax in the country. Things are exempted such as food”
There is an extremely old basis for such exemptions. As Ghandi said, “you cannot tax that which we need to live” (*).
Of course, a modern democrat cares not for such a longstanding, deep view of the world; the implicit contract between government and the people.
(*) that’s the intent, but not the exact quote. Does anyone know what the exact quote was? It was with regards the British salt tax in India
Yes, "Friend of Deval" seems to be the only job-growth sector in the state! ;-)
In a scene straight from Alice in Wonderland, at summer cocktail parties all over Nantucket and at the Vineyard, the trust fund elite will be sipping their Kool Aid and shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering why it is that Deval can’t seem to deliver on his promise to elevate the proletariat and create the Worker’s Paradise promised by Karl Marx.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts middle class will continue moving to New Hampshire in ever-increasing numbers to escape appalling taxes and a health care system strained to the breaking point and falling apart.
We’ll continue this thread with the Fri column ping for Howie.
‘Lacking basic skills’? Here’s some $$
By Howie Carr | Friday, May 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Eagle Scouts need not apply. Valedictorians, ditto.
So you say English is your native language? Tough break, kid.
You live with your mother and your father? Strike 2.
Never been arrested? Strike 3, you’re outta here.
Come back after you drop out of school, or get pregnant.
Now comes the latest memo from the Department of Transitional Assistance, formerly known as welfare. If you liked the welfare Cadillac program, you’ll love the “DTA Youth Works/Summer Employment program.”
The flacks for the welfare-industrial complex are trying to put a shine on this sneaker, saying it’s all about helping “at-risk” youth. But Deval Patrick’s hacks can’t run away from their own list of requirements on page 2 of the May 18 memo.
“The client must meet one of the following criteria:
“ . . . lacking basic skills; pregnant or parenting; the child of a single working parent; a school dropout; homeless or a runaway; court-involved or an offender; or an ESL (English as a Second Language) learner; or an immigrant.”
In other words, if you’re a middle-class kid, struggling to make ends meet, you’re bleep out of luck. (Unless, of course, your uncle happens to be a solon, in which case, no problemo, kiddo.)
The DTA says anyone they hire has to be “low-income,” which I understand. But, if your father did the unthinkable and married your mother, and still lives with his family, then why is that a strike against the kid?
By the way, the money from the DTA summer job is “noncountable income for cash assistance.” In other words, you get to stay on the dole while you’re being paid to work.
According to the memo, the money for this program is coming from the stimulus funds, which we were told would be helping everybody, not just pregnant high-school dropout criminals.
So where is the empathy for the Dave and Ricky Nelsons of the 21st century? But then, the dirty little secret is out. When Sonya Sotomayor or Barack Obama talk about empathy, what they really mean is favoritism.
And there is no empathy anywhere for taxpayers. Remember the illegal-alien in-state tuition bill of 2006? It would have effectively provided free college tuition for any illegal who drifted into the state, while charging high out-of-state tuition for New Hampshire kids whose parents work and pay income taxes in Massachusetts. That one was stopped, temporarily, but it’ll be back.
Meantime, we have this DTA Youth Works/Summer Employment boondoggle.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1175459
Saw online that rapper Tone Loc collapsed during a concert in Florida: He “had a seizure because of overheating”
That’s one problem we don’t have to deal with around these
parts.
but but but algore says the planet have a fever and there’s all this gloBULL(crap) warming alerts......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.