March 9, 2011

RE: Budget Thoughts

Marc Comtois

To fall into a political trap, as Justin suggests I have done, one would first have to take the bait. To stretch the metaphor further, I didn't take the Governor's budget bait--much less get caught in a trap--so much as look at the bait (tax "cuts") and offer a few observations. If anything, maybe I'm guilty of assuming the trap was self-evident (even though I pointed out some of its mechanisms--tax/fee increases, tolls). OK, enough of the metaphor-stretching.

I know what Justin was getting at when he wrote "It is insufficient to go through a budget proposals as if it were itemized lists of distinct suggestions." We agree, I think, that the general thrust of a budget proposal is more important than the sum of its parts in how it tips the hand of a Governor. But, questions of relative importance aside, my post was about "some of those parts" (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk), no more, no less. I didn't call it "A Comprehensive Budget Review" or "Chafee's Budget: A Holistic Conservative Response" or even "On Linc: The Hem-Hawed, un-TelePrompTered Propositions of a Horse-shoeing, Silver-Spoon Sucking Scion". I called it "Budget Thoughts" and offered a few.

I think what we've got here is a difference in style, not substance. So put down your velvet hammer Mr. Carpenter Man ("temperamentally conservative"...I see what you did there...soften me up then "thwack"..."fair-minded" ie; give the Guv a pass..."thwack thwack") I agree that, taken as whole, this budget is a mess with way too much reliance on vague promises of "things to come." Finally: we're due for a beer, aren't we?

Comments, although monitored, are not necessarily representative of the views Anchor Rising's contributors or approved by them. We reserve the right to delete or modify comments for any reason.

The Daily Dose, GCPVD, RIFuture, and Kmareka all have a night where contributors and commenters meet up for a few drinks. It would be fun to either have an AR meetup or get on board with them and have a night to match-up faces to names.

Posted by: mangeek at March 10, 2011 8:36 AM

Mangeek, we had one a few years ago. We've talked off and on about doing it again some time. We'll see...

Posted by: Marc at March 10, 2011 9:46 AM

Shameless Plug:

I know it's a bit out of the way for most of you, but the German American Cultural Society in Pawtucket (aka, German Club) has excellent beers that are hard to find elsewhere, at the cost only a non-profit could provide. They have open house in the basement every Friday. It's a welcoming crowd, there's food, and it's a big enough room to split off into groups or get our own table. It's actually an ideal place for a bunch of folks who don't know each other yet to meet up.

Posted by: mangeek at March 10, 2011 1:30 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?

Important note: The text "http:" cannot appear anywhere in your comment.