[img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] Cool...!! Animals we love. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] We have two 12-week old kittens who are inside all the time because of the cold weather and these kits are absolutely running amouk. They are a kick to watch. of course we've had to pin up the DRAPES, and move a few house plants to avoid destruction. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
Don't forget to stop in Taxachusetts on your way to Taxationland (Maine's new nickname as they have now surpassed Mass in personal tax burden) [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I was thinking that I would stop by and pay my respects to the Kennedy bunch while I was in Taxachussets, and see if any of them remembered Mary Jo Kopechnie's name. [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] We have been watching the news outa California and just shake our heads when we hear how much they're going to have to suck outa the residents to make up for a 34 Billion deficit caused by buying power and selling it for less than they paid for it. We got in on some of that "cheap"....20 cents per KwH.....power in 2001 and now that we've moved we don't have to help pay the piper. That's just one of about fourteen reasons why we got outa there. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] I've always heard that the NE was tax-heavy and never could figure out why. Is it bloated welfare rolls? [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] My daughter lives in Cambridge and is gently prodding me to see NE in the Fall. I would jus' love to do that and visit some of youse guys from the tractor and country net. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I haven't been on the east coast since '00 when I attended a graduation @ Yale...... my first ever trip to the east coast. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
<font color="blue"> I've always heard that the NE was tax-heavy and never could figure out why. Is it bloated welfare rolls? </font color>
hard to target a specific reason as the underlying cause is a general tax & spend mentality. Any New England politician worth his salt "believes" that the state can spend your money smarter, more effenciently, blah, blah, blah (insert adverb here) than joe average citizen. Sometimes I think the difference between a Democrat & Republican in this area is who they target the additional services towards ie "rich or middle class" vs "poor".
A couple classic examples are the Mass turnpike authority who's road repair / maint. budget is on par with all other highways in the state combined! Also the MDC (Mass District Commision) which manages Parks & Roads (Sturrow Drive) in the Metro Boston area. This is in addition to already existing state-wide Parks & Recreation, DOT, and Police Agencies.
Our new governor looks to be trying to change things up a bit. He is trying to eliminate the MDC. Unfortunatley I think the only way he will make good progress in revamping state govt. is if the economy continues to be slow for the next few years, requiring more cutbacks.
Sounds like one heck of a lot of "overhead". [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I just read where the U.S. has a 450 BILLION dollar trade deficit now. Entry-level manufacturing jobs; which WERE the traditional pipeling by which one achieved middle class status: have been lost to China and elsewhere and what was a cornucopia of tax revenue is becoming a hollow shell. Social services will have to be paid for by property owners and others who are still "tax-vulnerable". It's going to get worse as smokestack jobs evaporate and the "new" economy based on cybernetics; which was fictitious to begin with; craps out. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
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