"debating whether the Fluffernutter should be designated the official state sandwich....
proposing a bill that could require some dog owners to pay an increase of more than 1,000 percent for a basic license....
just hiked the sales tax, the meals tax, satellite dish tax, and the hotel tax, and created an alcohol tax. Now they’re talking about an income tax hike....
the most important issue seems to be passing a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote....
even being asked to consider a bill that would require banks and insurance companies that do business with the state to document past profits earned from the slave trade."
See: The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews
Jewish Involvement in Black Slave Trade to the Americas
Pay up!
"Lawmakers, don’t focus on fluff" by Richard R. Tisei | October 25, 2009
WITH UNEMPLOYMENT at a 33-year high of 9.3 percent and the state budget tanking because of free-falling tax revenues, you would think that Governor Deval Patrick and the Legislature would be working around the clock doing everything possible to eliminate wasteful spending and make state government run more efficiently.
Instead, the message coming out of the Legislature and the corner office during the last couple of weeks seems to lack any real sense of urgency. Patrick just announced he is convening an economic summit this month that will focus on jobs creation and getting the state’s economy back on track. What took him so long? Patrick’s wait-and-see-approach to a crisis that has been percolating for the last three budget cycles amounts to a case of too little, too late.
If Patrick has been slow to react to the crisis, the Legislature has been even slower.
Yeah, because they don't feel the pinch.
As the budget continues to bleed red ink, and agencies that service some of the state’s most vulnerable residents brace for additional budget cuts, here are some of the “urgent’’ matters the Legislature has been focused on:
■ We’re debating whether the Fluffernutter should be designated the official state sandwich. Thousands of people are worrying about being able to put food on the table, but we’re determined to make sure Massachusetts is the first state in the nation with an “official’’ sandwich.
Hey, let them eat FLUFF!
The Flufferettes - from left Abby Normal, Ginger Rita, and Pixie Dust - provided musical entertainment yesterday at the fourth annual Fluff festival held in Union Square in Somerville. (John Blanding/ Globe Staff)
That one in the middle looks like she has been eating too many Fluffernutters.
Related: The Boston Globe is Full of Fluff
■ The governor and some legislators are calling for boycotts of Massachusetts businesses at the same time unemployment is fast approaching double figures and many companies are struggling to remain solvent. Have we forgotten that it is businesses - not government - that are responsible for creating the jobs and generating the tax revenues that help fuel the economy?
See: Patrick's Suite at the Hyatt Pure Politics
■ Some legislators are proposing a bill that could require some dog owners to pay an increase of more than 1,000 percent for a basic license. It’s hardly surprising, considering the Legislature just hiked the sales tax, the meals tax, satellite dish tax, and the hotel tax, and created an alcohol tax. Now they’re talking about an income tax hike - where does it end?
The whole crowd has gone to the dogs!
Related: Mass. Lawmaker Boozes Up On Bathroom Break in New Hampshire
■ For some legislators, the most important issue seems to be passing a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote before they’re even old enough to legally cast a ballot. Meanwhile, many adults who are old enough to vote are losing their jobs, and the Legislature doesn’t seem to be doing much to get people back to work.
■ We’re even being asked to consider a bill that would require banks and insurance companies that do business with the state to document past profits earned from the slave trade. Meanwhile, those employers are dealing with one of the biggest corporate tax increases in the state’s history, which is driving businesses away from Massachusetts and forcing some companies to close their doors....
Maybe: Massachusetts' Business Tax Increase Was a Corporate Tax Cut
****************************
The Legislature needs to be proactive in dealing with this problem, but instead it is occupying itself with most trivial and frivolous issues. We’re doing everything we can to avoid tackling the real problems facing the Commonwealth.... But more importantly, we need to stop debating inconsequential legislation like the Fluffernutter bill....
Richard R. Tisei is minority leader of the Massachusetts Senate.--more--"
Related: The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Problem
State Government On Probation
