RI’s Painful Future
The really disheartening thing is that I don’t believe our elected officials have the intellectual or ideological framework to get us out of this:
Rhode Island government is probably facing a deficit of $486 million for the fiscal year that begins next July 1. And the House fiscal office predicts that deficits will grow by roughly $80 million each year, to $770 million in 2012.
Slash taxes. Trim regulations and mandates. Rebuild infrastructure. Declare it; do it; and watch productivity return to Rhode Island.
I hope this is a wake up call for all those who have been asserting, “You can’t run government like a business” Business learned that it could not survive operating the way RI does long ago and made the necessary corrections. If government is lean and less burdensome as a general rule, then it is better prepared to react to a crisis. Instead we have a bloated and lethargic government that can’t get out of it’s own way. How can a government help it’s citizens when it is the problem? Then they say what a tragedy that public sector workers have to be laid off during hard times, making matters worse. Well poor planning leads to poor or even devastating results, as we are now witnessing. But I’m sure there are those who will argue, to this I say the proof is in the pudding.
“Slash taxes. Trim regulations and mandates. Rebuild infrastructure.” Nah. Just keep taxing “da rich” so even more jobs leave, raise and “broaden” the sales and excise taxes so even more people buy online or cross-border, keep the illegal alien pipeline going and make sure “public servants” can retire at 41 with lifetime COLA’s and free health care-IF they don’t “become disabled” before then! “large expenditures – pension obligations, health care costs and collective bargaining agreements – limit a city’s options” The REAL RI Future? http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1416488.html Click to view the Large Graphic Reader Comment “Is this a sign of things to come?” – Of course it is. The only way for these cities to recover after Union brought Politicians sign ridiculous contracts is for them to go into Bankruptcy so they can void them. Look for a lot more cities to be filing for bankruptcy in the near future. — pressto Leave your comment Capitol and California Comments (32) | Recommend (4) More California cities hurtling into fiscal void? By Robert Lewis rlewis@sacbee.com Published: Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | Page 16A When the city of Vallejo filed for bankruptcy protection in May, the logical question was: Is this a sign of things to come? Now two more California cities – Rio Vista and Isleton – are considering bankruptcy protection as an option as they face large budget shortfalls and staggering debt. While experts caution against ringing the alarm bells just yet, they do say tough economic times could push municipalities already on the brink over the edge. “I think it’s quite possible municipal bankruptcies could become somewhat more common but will still be very rare,” said Jason Dickerson, budget and policy analyst at the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. “There are more municipalities that will look at what it means.” Cities, counties… Read more »
The public is conveniently forgetting who really is to blame for this mess.
The public itself.
Note the election results. Same ole same ole gets you the same ole mess.