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On Thanksgiving, we went to visit relatives in my homestate of Rhode Island, and once again, I found myself envious of something happening in the news down there when compared with my adopted every-bluer Granite State. Consider this headline from Boston.com:
State workers get layoff notices amid budget cuts
Can you believe this? We’re talking about RHODE ISLAND, here– the absolute bluest of the blue states– or is it? The Providence Journal has some detail:
Governor Carcieri executed the first step in a sweeping plan to cut state jobs yesterday, telling dozens of state workers they were out of a job and notifying hundreds more that they may be laid off in the coming months.
Governor Carcieri is, of course, a Republican. Meanwhile, here in NH, as reported by GraniteGrok several days back, one of the state’s highest elected Republicans, Executive Councilor Ray Burton, is imploring people to call the governor and the legislature and ask that they RAISE the state tax on gasoline!
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What choice does Little Rhodey’s governor have? They already have income taxes, sales taxes, AND property taxes. They are completely tapped out. Enter a Democratic legislature unable to do anything but increase spending and this is what you get. The Providence Journal reports that the action taken by the Governor is part of his
continuing effort to plug a budget hole that may run as high as $450 million next year.
Recall that with our Democratic-led legislature hell-bent on increased spending, the people of NH– unlike those in RI– do not benefit from a Republican governor that might say "no" to some waste on occasion. And what about RI’s $450 million deficit? At least we’re not them, right? Wrong! The NHDOT gas tax notwithstanding, let’s not forget the prediction made by the Josiah Bartlett Center’s Charlie Arlinghaus about the Granite State’s upcoming budget:
By one calculation the hole will approach $200 million. But when the planned off-budget spending increases are added in, the total shortfall will be $800 Million.
As RI trims fat and reduces the size of its government under the direction of their governor fighting the projected hole, what are we doing in the face of an almost identical, if not bigger problem here in NH? What exactly IS Governor Lynch doing? Will he reduce the overall size of government like in RI, or will we be forced to adopt yet new taxes long enjoyed by our brethren to the state due south of liberal Massachusetts? When you read the entire ProJo article, you’ll also learn that part of the RI Governor’s plan calls for the privatization of certain tasks currently performed by state workers.
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The present cricket sounds we hear from the Corner Office in Concord won’t fix this… Perhaps (I can’t believe I’m saying this) we can learn from RI’s example? How about it, Gov. Lynch?