Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Do they also want a pint of blood?

Raise Taxes???? RI has one of the highest tax rates in the country. Who is going to pay these taxes??? The 10% unemployed, the illegals, the state and town workers that retire with pensions and health care in there 40"s or maybe all the people in this state on welfare??? Raise taxes, fees and tolls, what a bunch of idiots.

This is a joke right. RI citizens have so much income to spend that we can afford all these increases. Next time they'll ask for your first born child.

Let me get this straight; in a tiny State, with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, where people drive to other States daily (the ones with actual jobs) the solution is to impose tolls on those coming in and out of RI? Brilliant. And we wonder why the educated leave in droves. Gas tax hike? Fine, no big deal and it's long overdue. But.. tolls? You have got to be kidding me. RI is the size of a postage stamp and if you're unlucky enough to live here you're stuck leaving the State, often. On the flip side if you live outside of RI it's easily avoidable.

Sure, stick it to the middle class again. The poor don't care about increases because they get most of their needs taken care of. The rich don't care because they can just move out of the state. It's the middle-class, hard-working people who have to drive out of the state to work that will get hit the hardest. Is this the best our government can do? How about spending less instead of always asking for more?

Here's a solution: How about the cops and firemen stop draining the state by working absurb overtime hours, give up their yearly pay increases until the economy recovers, and all their ridiculous entitlements that the rest of us have to pay for. After all, they can certainly afford it, since most of them have multiple side jobs.

They seem to forget that they are public servants, not Rhode Island aristocracy. They are not sharing the pain in this economy.

Highway tolls!!! That would be the last straw for me and my family. I am out of this pathetic State. I can easily conduct my business out of eastern Connecticut without stepping foot in this one. Another loss of an upper middle class taxpayer and small business for Little Rhody! What will be left????????

I plan on paying my toll on my way out. Who are these idiots that are on the governor's advisory commission? People like Steve Kass? Maybe Don should be the one to pay the tolls for the rest of us. And how about his comment the other day relative to not receiving a COLA from Cookson? I felt so bad. Words can't even begin to describe the idiocy of this man. And how did he end up where he was a Cookson? Nothing more than the good old boys network. Maybe we can all leave and let the good old boys stay and let them begin to foot the bill. Yo, middle classers, time to move on and out.

Outrageous, there are already programs in place that were to have paid for this stuff (lottery, existing gas tax, as well as general fund). Obviuolsy that money was not spent wisely (given to shoddy contractors at over-priced rates) now, you want the working class to pay for this? I work out of state, so now I have to pay $6/day roundtrip to get to work??

I would move out of this state and so would the rest of my extended family RI already pays out the but in taxes and now they want to charge me a per mile. No fing way! When a government becomes too ridiculous the citizens will rebel and this is an issue for which I would draw the line and then cross it to stop it, what ever it took the citizens would eventually win. However, there's always New Hampshire! (Live free or DIE)

And you all keep electing those Democratic hacks. It will never change unless you change the state government

LOLOL, a new fee of one-half-cent per mile driven. This basically means all money collected would be used to pay the Union people who staff the collection department.......... Whatta stupid, ignorant, irresponsible idea!

Where is the money that is already slated to pay for the upkeep of the roads going? We already pay into the general fund for road and bridge repair and upkeep. In addition every year we also agree to bonds for road work. Now tolls. Where does our money go???? Certainly not for our poorly maintained roads. Our roads are a disgrace. I think this is absurd

Last one over the state border, turn off the lights.

Last person leaving this state; please turn out the lights.

I have a better idea. Why don't we make public employee benefits comparable to those we have in the private sector and use the savings to repair the infrastructure like we should have been doing all along.

The unions have sucked the state dry. They have taken every dime out of the budget for 40 years and there hasn't been any money left over to do the things the government really should be doing.

State and local government shouldn't be a welfare program for a bunch of union hacks who complain about working 5 hours a day.

Let's get rid of collective bargaining for public employees and introduce some private sector reality and efficiency into the picture.

half cent per mile to drive! They've got to be kidding me! Does any other state do this?

This smells of Totalitarianism.

DJ44, its beyond blood at this point, either a kidney or a retina will do.

Wow. Glad this upper middle classer fled months ago. Forget the old saying, people. In the case of RI, the grass really IS greener "on the other side of the tolls"

this state sucks!!!! Lets put tolls up so we can tie up traffic some more. For those of us who work in MA or CT we would have to pay $6 a day to go to work? A tax on miles driven? Where do these idiots come from that are coming up with these ridiculous ideas? If these idiotic ideas these morons came up with get put into place there will be 2 less people living here, as me and the wife are moving to MA!!!!!!

I see nothing about cutting waste. Stop putting street sweepers out on the highways every night during the summer(12 pieces of equipment and 2 detail cops),why did the state spend all summer taking down guardrails and putting up new ones?
Take a ride on the new 403 in North Kingstown,over built and not needed.
And........we are so small if your from out of state,you can go around RI. How are we going to get new business to move to the state with the increased cost of doing business in the state?
We have to take the state back from these people.

The local democrats that are blindly re-elected year over year over year have grossly mismanaged the administration of state services. Wake up citizens of RI you deserve everything you get until you begin to hold this self-serving party accountable at the ballot box.

What the hell?? A tax on EVERY mile driven!! I am a college educated RI'er who has never been able to find a job in this state! I'm not anyone's daughter, niece or sister, so I am forced to work in MA for 10 years and previously in CT for 3 years. I drive 50 miles each way to work, 5 days per week, 52 weeks a year. That is 26,000 miles a year just driving to and from work and most of that is driven in MA not RI! And now you want to penalize me again for driving out of state? Along with the wear and tear on my car, the 2-3 hours of my life I loose each day by commuting. I pay enough! More than enough. The state needs to look internally to tighten their belts. Sorry Mr. & Mrs. State Employee, try living as we do in the private sector...you'll never be able to take it.

Props to Smith Hill for finding a new way to screw us over, I'm going to start looking for a place to live in MA. If my family wants to see me, let them pay the tolls and taxes.

so how do you tax my miles if alot of them are done in another state???? This state is horrible. If the DOT actually did their jobs in a timely manner and put fourth quality work then the roads wouldnt crumble.

Toll??? are you kidding me
How many job with pension that this will be created by the state??
I agreed with increase gasoline tax to reduce usage and dependence on oil

This is what is wrong with this state. Taxes, tolls, or fees; what is the difference? We have a huge budget compared to the size of the state, yet they want more. When will it stop.

Rhode Island has approximately 1000 miles of state highway to maintain. As of 2006, we spent a staggering $360,000 per mile. The national mean is $100,000 per mile.

We pay more per mile than all but 5 states. We rank dead last in the country in percentage of substandard bridges.

In Minnesota, a freeway over the Mississippi river collapsed. It was completely rebuilt in 13 months. For our bridges, all we do is put up signs. The bridge in Barrington will take something like 13 years to complete.

And these guys think they deserve more of our money? Don't get me started about the strip club.

Somehow, this madness must end. Not one cent more for DOT until they deliver good value for what we pay now, instead of enriching themselves and their cronies.

What pin head suggested that we pay a toll to leave the state and then pay a mileage fee for those miles driven out of state.

It is time to move my company to Connecticut where my customers are.

Anyone remember the movie "Escape From New York"?
That's what they'll drive RI to. How about having the police enforce the laws, first by getting off thier cell phones, then enforcing the motor vehicle laws we have by stopping the people who change lanes without signaling, speeding, weaving, tailgating...Oops, they have FOP or political ties, can't do that. Stop the spending, get rid of the general fund account and divide it into accounts that can be watched. List the income and expendetures in the PROJO, then there will something to read and subsciptions will rise.

CUT SPENDING. Don't increase taxes. Rhode Island unfortunately is too small to be a state we need to either cut all state spending in half immediately, cut staff, freeze overtime, stop spending and stop all pensions and healthcare for all state employees.

or we can do one of the following

1/ become a District (like District of Columbia) less state government

2/ become a Commonwealth (like Puerto Rico or Guam) less civic and state government more federal help

3/ merge into Massachusetts (possibly out of the pot into the frying pan)

4/ merge into Connecticut (greater tax base, less taxes)

5/ can all city jobs and let one state entity take over.

6/ move to Canada, pay less taxes, get free healthcare, a pension plan for all.

Tom has it right - the real source of the state's problems is a government far too complicit with the collective bargaining demands of unions representing state and local workers in RI. These employee unions have negotiated benefits and relative pay far greater than most other state workers enjoy. The reality is that the majority of these workers are not highly educated or in possession of specialized skills. The real "hidden revenue" for the state, as Carcieri has begun addressing, can be realized by reducing the size of the bloated state and local government payroll, and bringing their compensation in line with national averages.

I drive aprox 30,00 miles per year - of which at a minimum 12,000 - 14,000 are conducted for volunteering and deploying for search and rescue missions, Red Cross citizen training and community diaster training. At least 10,000 of the 12 - 12 K miles is out of state on missions. Why should I pay RI for mileage incurred on other states and Canadian roads? Are they insane!!!!!!! Talk about sticking it to the very people who need to drive far because they can't find a job in-state or are trying to help their communities and the State by volunteering. Sadly folks this masters educated professional who is already paying 38% of my salary in taxes is going to look for a proverbial greener pasture or at least one not full of cow pies!!!!!

Our elected officials just don't get it, but yet we continue to re-elect these vultures. I guess we deserve it for voting for them in the first place. The "odometer tax" proposal is just absurd. I also didn't know you could put a toll on a federally funded highway. Where do we come up with these people?

What an idiotic proposal. The Governor is trying to tax us to death to overcompensate for his own administrative waste. I already pay ridiculously high car taxes, gas taxes and other taxes; now a mileage tax? Give me a break. One of my doctors is in Seekonk; will it cost $3-$6 extra dollars per visit just to see her? What about the already horrible traffic on 195 near the state line at rush hour? And for those of us who prefer to zip to Seekonk or Attleboro to shop, will forcing us to take the already overcrowded surface roads to avoid tolls do our roadways any real favors? This is the most ridiculous idea I have heard yet from our poorly performing state CEO.

why don't I just hand over my entire paycheck, would that make them feel better? a mileage tax? WTF?

I'm so glad I left RI. I suggest anyone who hasn't start making plans to make a hasty exit to someplace better.

I'm not even going to fly into T.F. Green anymore this is so maddening. I will fly into Logan and not spend one single solitary dollar in RI ever again.

Boycott Rhode Island!!!!

ALL of the proposed taxes and increases are insane considering how heavily taxed RI residents and business are now, the poor national/global economy and the local "economy," or more accurately, the lack of it. May as well have everybody's pay check, pension, etc. go directly to the atate and they can determine how much to give back to the residents. That's what it's coming to. After living here full time for 10 years, I sometimes daydreamed about expanding my small retirement home in Newport, but the longer I live in this sad little state, the more I'm inclined to expand myself outta here. Until I can afford that, if something like the silly mileage tax goes thru, I'll just move my license and vehicle registrations to my friend's house in CT.

Thank you for the proposals to steal more money from me. While I don't want to and can barely afford to, I see me moving out of state very soon. The lack of fiscal responsibility and accountability is staggering beyond belief and the unmitigated gall of these proposals is just obscene! Obviously all the elected officials have so much money that they have never had to live by a budget and have no clue how to, so tell me who do I tax to pay for all these increases? certainly not my overtaxed employer!

These are the craziest recommendations I have seen to date. I can’t believe we are in this mess and no one has the where-with-all to get out of it without destroying the middle & working class. When will the new breathing tax get instituted? If they want things to get better, just let me keep my money so I can spend it where I choose.

Does anyone remember the sometimes terrible back-ups when there were tolls in CT? And how about the road toll in DE? There are times when we drive home to VA from RI that you wait for an hour to squeeze through there. What an incredible waste of time and resources.

First things first, where has the gas tax been spent during this mans administration? Monies for years has been piling up in this fund to match any federal dollars out there. No more taxes "Don", stick to your edicts and get rid of the blue ribbon panels. Your think tank's are not deep enough. Give us the gas tax monies back and then we will talk.

A few years back the state 'jumped ahead' on its fed. road appropriations to pay for this new I-way project. We were told it was needed to get the work done faster and keep the project moving ahead. NOW, we are told there is not enough funding for all the other roads in the state and R.I.ers will need to pay/mile for the privilege of being in this state. Why not SELL all the land in the newly opened land under the old bridges in prime areas and make 400+million. Who will get this new land, insiders?? with all these new TAXES how many working people will be left to pay them?

Lets have a few more deep thinking blue ribbonisters formed to really come up with more for rhode islands commedy channel.

This panel was really thinking outside the box. Way to go "Don" and Blue Ribbonisters out there. Most ineffective governor to ever be voted into office.

I can't wait to get the hell out of this God forsaken state!

Do our elected leaders ever talk of CUTTING costs.....NO!

All our elected leaders ever do is look for ways to tax goods, services or other things that they haven't taxed yet and stick it to us by levying taxes on those items.

In a small state like this, do we REALLY need 39 fire chiefs, police chiefs, school districts, school superintendents....etc....I think not!

Regionalizing many of these services would save the taxpayers millions of dollars every year!

There is one bright spot to this whole mess.....RI has the BEST politicians money can buy!