Credit card governors
Gov. Deval Patrick is understandably being knocked around for his frequent calls for higher taxes.
He has proposed higher meals taxes, cigarette taxes, and gasoline taxes, among others.
The talk has led some to pine for the good old days of Republican governors who refused to raise taxes.
But, a closer look reveals that those governors raised many fees and avoided higher taxes by putting their pet projects on a credit card for future generations to pay off.
Patrick is in the unfortunate position of being governor when the bills came due.
Look what he has inherited: The Turnpike Authority is $2.2 billion in debt, mostly because of cost overruns in the Big Dig project, which former Gov. Paul Cellucci repeatedly claimed was "on time and under budget."
His claims were obviously false, but he skipped town with an ambassdorship to Canada and left the taxpayers with the bill.
The MBTA, which expanded greatly under Cellucci, Bill Weld and Mitt Romney, is now $5 billion in debt, again with no way of paying it back.
The Turnpike Authority claims its situation is do dire that its bond rating will be dropped if it doesn't raise tolls soon.
Patrick has looked shaky in his handling of the state's fiscal troubles and he has been too quick to propose higher taxes as the solution.
But, he has trimmed spending a little and, in fairness, when it comes to transportation, previous governors left him holding the bag.
He has proposed higher meals taxes, cigarette taxes, and gasoline taxes, among others.
The talk has led some to pine for the good old days of Republican governors who refused to raise taxes.
But, a closer look reveals that those governors raised many fees and avoided higher taxes by putting their pet projects on a credit card for future generations to pay off.
Patrick is in the unfortunate position of being governor when the bills came due.
Look what he has inherited: The Turnpike Authority is $2.2 billion in debt, mostly because of cost overruns in the Big Dig project, which former Gov. Paul Cellucci repeatedly claimed was "on time and under budget."
His claims were obviously false, but he skipped town with an ambassdorship to Canada and left the taxpayers with the bill.
The MBTA, which expanded greatly under Cellucci, Bill Weld and Mitt Romney, is now $5 billion in debt, again with no way of paying it back.
The Turnpike Authority claims its situation is do dire that its bond rating will be dropped if it doesn't raise tolls soon.
Patrick has looked shaky in his handling of the state's fiscal troubles and he has been too quick to propose higher taxes as the solution.
But, he has trimmed spending a little and, in fairness, when it comes to transportation, previous governors left him holding the bag.
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