An Alternative Close for a Predictable Ending

Mazel Tovs are in order for the Patrick administration! Because the Governor is way too much of a pussy to make any actual leadership decisions (eg: pension reform), he decided to stick it to the Masaschusetts taxpayer once again by mastering the Alternative Sales Close. Every sales rookie that graduates sales traing (and now our Governor!) learns never to give your prospect the opportunity to say no. Rather than ask the hard working people of Massachusetts whether or not they'd like a gas tax increase, our Governor asked whether we wanted a gas tax increase OR a Turnpike toll hike. Very clever wording for a man who spent 60,000 of our dollars on an SUV this week.

Incidentally, the way you answer this question largely depends on where you reside. When this question was posed by the Springfield Republican newspaper, only 3% of western Mass residents were in favor of raising the gas tax (66% voted for tolls while the rest argued for budget reform). Not surprisingly, 54% of Boston Globe readers are in favor of taxing a gallon of gas to high heaven.

When money is tight for those of us in what Howie Carr refers to as the "dreaded public sector", we tighten our belts, cut back, and do without. When money is tight in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts we spend more, expand programs, and demand that the taxpayers foot the bill. Rather than ask whether we should increase the tolls OR raise the gas tax, we should be asking ourselves whether we continue to make our elected officials legislators for life OR vote them all out of office.

Tax 'Em All Deval should be leading by example, but since he has proven time and again that he is completely incapable of such a thing, we ought to demand that our representatives act like compassionate human beings during this economic crisis. It's doesn't take an economic genius (or even a mediocre governor) to realize that raising taxes should be considered only as an absolute last resort. If that means saving millions by requiring town employees to buy into the state health plan, banishing the time loved tradition of double-dipping, or 86ing unprofitable MBTA routes then so be it. The people out in Western Mass get it and it's about time that their bout of common sense infects the rest of us.