Bob Walsh. Economic Terrorist. Fiscal Jihadist. Union Radical Fundamentalist. He will rape your wallet and pillage your savings and give the spoils to his minions. He and those like him must be stopped in their tracks and forced to retreat back into their spider holes if we can ever hope to fix the problems we have.

Andrew,
The years cited for population figures: 5,700 in 2001 and 9,000 in 2006.

Does this mean the changes to the flat tax and capital gains tax are working and we are indeed attacting high net worth people to RI?

Regrading optimal size for a school system (4000 to 6000) he then said that it could be argued that Providence might be better off with 5 or 6 school districts.

That was a jaw dropper.

I wonder how many of those making $150,000 - $200,000 were union police officers counting overtime and details.

Red,

Thanx, for both the correction and the observations.

Greg,

Don't you think that's a tad over-the-top? Isn't there a fundamental difference between someone who wants to blow our society up (literally) and someone who thinks our society will be made better if our government is made stronger and given more money to spend?

Andrew,

Both want to re-make the world in their image at any cost.

I'm tired of glad-handing the unions in this state. Let's call them what they are. Blood-sucking leeches. Cancers. Threats to the welfare of those the CLAIM to want to protect.

Andrew,

Thanks for stopping by last night (and Greg, thanks for reminding me why I generally don't post here anymore).

A minor correction, Andrew - the development of a secondary market for tax credits is linked, but still a separate issue from economic development- 1) we need to ensure that if we offer credits, the credits are used in logical, measurable ways 2) the secondary market means that the credits can be all taken up front, whereas the project's return might be over several years, creating an imbalance and a budget issue.

Andrew, you correctly noted that while we both support balanced budgets and clearly identified sources of revenue to support them, I want to spend more of your tax dollars than Gary Sasse does. I suspect that surprises no one.

Thanks again for attending.

Bob, I look forward to your continued not posting here. But you can always send "The Finger" over to embarrass your agency when he's not busy blogging over at RIFuture, which apparently is part of his RINEA job, seeing how much time he spends there.

I suspect that most, if not all (or more) of the increase in numbers of "rich" high income people cited by Walsh are attributable to one time capital gains on the sales of homes, NOT recurring year-after-year income streams.

Heck, some Social Security couple who bought a house in Newport in the 1960's could have a multi-hundred thousand dollar capital gain on the house that they just sold to move to Carolina because they can't afford the property taxes here anymore!

And we all know what's going on with the housing market - so those revenues to the state are, and will continue, to sharply decline.

Another nail in Rhode Island's fiscal coffin.

Tom W, that is related to the point Justin has been trying to make. Also, in addition to our own intrepid reporter, Mr. Morse, the Brown Daily Herald also covered the event and has a few more quotes, including:

Specifically, Chouquette promoted tax cuts for the wealthy, and said their presence in the state contributes to strong business and philanthropy. "Philanthropy could be a real loser if we see some of these high-income taxpayers move out of state," he said.

Walsh countered Chouquette's position, saying, "I don't see how giving a tax break to people who are already here makes incentives for new jobs." He argued against tax cuts and for increased education funding, but agreed with Chouquette that "spending has exceeded revenues." While he did not explicitly promote raising taxes to the extent that Katz did, Walsh told the audience half-jokingly, "We've become very funny as Americans. ... Paying taxes to me is a patriotic thing."

Of course Walsh's sort of "patriotism" lines HIS pockets and provides HIS job security.

Just to clarify, the second para above is also from the BDH story. (Formatting problems!)

Bob,

You don't post here because Don Hawthorne very politely challenged you and asked you to back up your rhetorical claims with facts. Naturally you couldn't do so and 'ducktailed' out of here.
Btw what was the point of last night's Darrell Clintonista West forum @ Brown? Solutions for Rhode Island's problems? From the NEA and poverty pimps? lol Now that's a funny skit worthy of the Follies.

"People may oppose the idea of "welfare" in an abstract sense, but when you ask them about the specific functions that government is currently performing, they will support them."

I "support" a lot of things. In fact, I "support" way more than we already do.

But it all costs money. And the money which pays for these programs is both hard earned and finite. We are now the fourth highest taxed state in the country yet facing a half billion dollar annual deficit. It is difficult not to conclude that, much as we would like to do more, in fact, we have hit a wall and need to do less.

Did either Bob Walsh or Linda Katz acknowledge Bobby Oliveira's triumph over Matt Jerzyk in the recent battle of the local Democratic titans?

And which part of Pennsylvania has Bobby been assigned to in the upcoming shootout on I-76?

Enquiring minds want to know...